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THE 

HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


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JAMES  POTT  &  CO.,  Publishers,  NEW  YORK. 


THE 


HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


A  BOOK  OF  SCRIPTURE  ILLUSTRATIONS  GATHERED 

IN  PALESTINE. 


BY 

CUNNINGHAM  GEIKIE,  D.D., 

Vicar  oj  St.  Martin’s  at  Palace,  Norwich. 


Voi,  II. 


NEW  YORK : 

JAMES  POTT  &  CO.,  PUBLISHERS. 

1888. 


I 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2019  with  funding  from 

* 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


https://archive.org/details/holylandbiblebyj02geik 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

Gethsemane  and  Calvary  . 

•  • 

PAGE 

1 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

Jerusalem  and  Bethany . 

•  • 

.  25 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

Still  Round  Jerusalem . 

•  • 

.  48 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

The  Plain  oe  Jericho . 

•  • 

.  66 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

The  Jordan  . 

•  • 

.  86 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

The  Dead  Sea . 

.  105 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 

Mar  Saba . 

•  • 

.  122 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 

To  Emmaus  and  Kirjath  Jearim  .... 

•  • 

.  133 

CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

Northwards . 

*  0 

.  155 

CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

Bethhoron,  Bethel,  Shiloh . 

•  • 

.  178 

VI 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 


To  Gerizim 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 


The  City  of  Samaria 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 
Dothan,  Gilboa,  Shunem 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 


Beisan,  Jezreel,  Nain 


Nazareth 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 


•  • 


CHAPTER  XL. 

Tabor,  El-Mahbakah,  Carmel 


CHAPTER  XLI. 


Haifa  and  Acre 


CHAPTER  XLII. 

El-Buttauf,  Cana,  The  Mount  of  Beatitudes 


CHAPTER  XLIII. 


Tiberias 


CHAPTER  XLIV. 


The  Sea  of  Galilee 


CHAPTER  XLV. 

Khan  Minieh,  Khersa,  Chorazin. 

CHAPTER  XLVI. 

Safed,  Giscala,  Kadesh  .... 

CHAPTER  XL VII. 


•»  0 


PARE 

203 

231 

241 

255 

267 

277 

293 

300 

315 

324 

344 

363 

380 


Merom,  Dan,  Belfort 


CONTENTS.  vii 

CHAPTER  XLVIIT. 

~  PAGE 

C^jSaeea  Philippi  .  393 

CHAPTER  XLIX. 

The  Lebanon  Mountains  .....  400 

CHAPTER  T. 

Damascus .  ^ 

CHAPTER  LI. 

Baalbek  and  the  Cedars  of  Lebanon  .....  437 

CHAPTER  LII. 

Beieout . . 

CHAPTER  LIII. 

SlD0N . 476 

CHAPTER  LIY. 

Sarepta  and  Tyre  .  491 

CHAPTER  LV. 

Conclusion . 502 

Index . 507 


List  of  Scripture  References 


.  537 


THE 


HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

\ 

- ♦<>« - 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

GETHSEMANE  AND  CALYAHY. 

Erom  the  Virgin’s  Fountain  towards  tlie  north  the  valley 
contracts  still  more,  and  the  sides  become  steeper.  On  the 
right  hand  especially,  as  yon  advance,  the  hill  is  very 
wild ;  sheets  of  rock,  rough  outcrops  of  the  horizontal 
strata,  and  hare  walls  of  limestone,  making  the  path  as 
wild  as  that  of  a  Highland  glen.  Indeed,  steps  have  been 
cut  in  more  than  one  place,  to  help  man  and  beast  in  their 
laborious  progress.  In  this,  the  narrowest  part  of  the 
Valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  the  Jews  of  to-day  have  the  ceme¬ 
tery  dearest  of  all  to  their  race,  for  here  the  dead  lie, 
under  the,  shadow  of  the  Temple  Hill,  in  the  sacred  ground 
on  which  the  great  Judgment  will,  in  their  opinion,  be 
held.  Numberless  flat  stones  mark  the  graves  on  both 
sides  of  the  waterless  bed  of  the  Kedron,  especially  on  the 
eastern.  Above  them,  a  little  to  the  north,  the  eye  catches 
a  succession  of  funeral  monuments  which  offer,  in  their 
imposing  size  and  style,  a  strong  contrast  to  the  humble 
stones  that  pave  the  side  of  the  hill  close  at  hand.  They 
are  four  in  number,  and  have  all  been  cut  out  of  the  rock, 
which  remains  in  its  roughness  on  each  side  of  them. 
The  first  is  that  of  Zechariah,  a  miniature  temple  about 
b 


2 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


eighteen  feet  square,  with  two  Ionic  pillars  and  two  half¬ 
pillars  on  each  side,  and  a  square  pillar  at  each  corner. 
Over  these  are  a  moulded  architrave  and  a  cornice,  the 
pattern  of  which  is  purely  Assyrian.  From  these  there 
rises  a  pyramidal  top — the  whole  monument  being  hewn, 
in  one  great  mass,  out  of  the  rocky  ledge,  without  any 
apparent  entrance,  though  one  may  possibly  be  hidden 
under  the  rubbish  accumulated  during  the  course  of  ages 
in  the  broad  passage  which  runs  round  the  tomb.  The 
wrhole  structure  is  about  thirty  feet  high.  From  the  As¬ 
syrian  cornice  it  might  be  thought  to  be  as  old  as  the 
early  Jewish  kings,  but  traces  of  Eoman  influence  in  the 
volutes  and  in  the  moulding  beneath  make  it  probable 
that  it  is  not  older  than  the  second  century  before  Christ, 
who  doubtless  often  passed  by  it. 

The  tradition  of  the  Jews,  current  in  our  Lord’s  day, 
associated  with  this  monument  the  Prophet  Zechariah,  who 
wras  stoned,  by  command  of  King  Joash,  “  in  the  court  of 
the  house  of  the  Lord ;  ”  1  and  it  may  well  be  that  Christ 
was  looking  down  upon  it  from  the  Temple  courts  close 
above,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  valley,  when  He  ad¬ 
dressed  the  Pharisees,  with  whom  He  had  been  disputing, 
in  the  bitter  words :  “Woe  unto  you,  scribes  and  Phari¬ 
sees,  hypocrites  !  because  ye  build  the  tombs  of  the  pro¬ 
phets,  and  garnish  the  sepulchres  of  the  righteous. 
Wherefore  ye  be  witnesses  unto  yourselves  that  ye  are  the 
children  of  them  which  killed  the  prophets.”  2  I  noticed 
square  holes  in  the  rock  on  the  south  side,  probably  the 
sockets  in  which  the  masons  rested  the  beams  of  the 
scaffold  while  they  were  cutting  out  the  tomb. 

The  so-called  Tomb  of  Absalom  is  the  most  stately  of 
the  four  monuments.  It  is  forty-seven  feet  high,  and 
nearly  twenty  feet  square  ;  hewn,  like  that  of  Zechariah, 

1  2  Cliron.  xxiv.  20 — 22.  2  Matt,  xxiii.  29 — 31. 


XXV.] 


GETHSEMANE  AND  CALVARY. 


3 


out  of  the  rock,  and  separated  from  it,  at  the  sides,  by  a 
passage  eight  or  nine  feet  broad,  hut  not  detached  from 
the  hill  at  the  hack.  The  natural  rock  has,  in  fact,  simply 
been  hewn  away  on  three  sides,  to  form  the  body  of  it ; 
hut  the  upper  part,  which  is  in  the  form  of  a  low  spire, 
with  a  top  like  an  opening  flower,  is  built  of  large  stones. 
The  solid  body  is  about  twenty  feet  high,  so  that  the 
upper  part  rises  twenty-seven  feet  over  it,  but  the 
height  of  the  whole  must  have  been  originally  greater,  as 
there  is  much  rubbish  lying  round  the  base,  and  cover¬ 
ing  the  entrance.  The  sides  are  ornamented  with  Ionic 
pillars,  over  which  is  a  Doric  frieze  and  architrave.  Wild 
plants  grow  out  of  the  chinks  between  the  stones  of 
the  spire,  and  on  the  base  from  which  it  springs,  and  a 
chaos  of  stones  lies  on  the  ground  below.  A  hole  in  the 
north  side,  large  enough  to  creep  through,  is  the  only  way 
to  get  inside,  hut  there  is  now  nothing  to  be  seen,  except  an 
empty  space  about  eight  feet  square,  vrith  tenantless  shelf- 
graves  on  two  sides,  cut  in  the  rock.  In  the  Second  Book 
of  Samuel  we  read  that  “  Absalom,  in  his  lifetime,  had 
taken  and  reared  up  for  himself  a  pillar  which  is  in  the 
king’s  dale,  for  he  said,  I  have  no  son  to  keep  my  name 
in  remembrance ;  and  he  called  the  pillar  after  his  own 
name;  and  it  is  called,  to  this  day,  Absalom’s  place.”1 
The  Grecian  ornaments  on  the  present  monument  show, 
however,  that  it  could  not,  in  its  present  form,  have  come 
down  from  a  period  so  early ;  but  the  solid  base  may  have 
been  more  complete  long  ago,  and  the  adornments  may 
have  been  added  to  it  later.  A  recent  traveller  standing 
on  the  Temple  wall  above,  on  the  other  side  of  the 
ravine,  saw  two  children  throw  stones  at  it,  and  heard 
them  utter  curses  as  they  did  so ;  and  it  is  to  this  custom, 
followed  for  ages,  that  much  of  the  rubbish  at  the  base  is 

1  2  Sam.  xviii.  18.  For  “place,”  read  “  monument.” 

b  2 


4 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


due.  Tlie  Rabbis  from  early  ages  have  enjoined  that 
*'c  if  any  one  in  Jerusalem  has  a  disobedient  child,  he  shall 
take  him  out  to  the  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  to  Absalom’s 
Monument,  and  force  him,  by  words  or  stripes,  to  hurl 
stones  at  it,  and  to  curse  Absalom  ;  meanwhile  telling  him 
the  life  and  fate  of  that  rebellious  son.”  To  heap  stones 
over  the  graves  of  the  unworthy,  or  on  a  spot  infamous 
for  some  wicked  deed,  has  been  a  Jewish  custom  in  all 
ages.  On  the  way  to  Gaza  I  passed  a  cairn  thus  raised 
on  the  spot  where  a  murder  had  been  committed  some 
time  before,  and  I  saw  one  at  Damascus  of  enormous  size, 
every  passer-by,  for  generations,  having  added  a  stone. 
So,  the  Hebrews  “  raised  a  great  heap  of  stones  unto  this 
day,”  over  A  chan,  near  Ai,1  and  this  was  done  also  over 
the  body  of  the  King  of  Ai,  “  at  the  entering  of  the 
gate/’  when  Joshua  took  the  city.2  Thus,  also,  when 
Absalom  had  been  killed  in  the  wood  by  Joab,  they 
took  his  corpse  and  cc  cast  him  into  a  great  pit  in  the 
wood,  and  laid  a  very  great  heap  of  stones  upon  him.”  3 
The  traditional  Tomb  of  Jehoshaphat,  close  to  that  of 
Absalom,  is  a  portal  cut  in  the  rock,  leading  down  to  a 
subterranean  tomb,  with  a  number  of  chambers ;  how  old, 
no  one  can  tell.  Exactly  opposite  the  south-east  corner 
of  the  Temple  enclosure  is  “  the  Grotto  of  St.  James,”  with 
a  Doric  front,  leading  to  an  extensive  series  of  sepulchral 
chambers,  spreading  far  into  the  body  of  the  hill.  The 
name  of  the  family — the  Beni  Hezir — is  on  the  facade,  in 
early  Hebrew  characters  ;  but  the  structure  is  connected 
with  St.  James  by  a  monkish  tradition  that  he  lay  con¬ 
cealed  in  it  during  the  interval  between  the  Crucifixion 
and  the  Resurrection,  though  this  venerable  association 
has  not  saved  it  in  later  times  from  being  used  as  a  fold 
for  sheep  and  goats. 

1  Josli.  vii.  26.  2  Josh.  viii.  29.  3  2  Sam.  xviii.  17. 


XXV.] 


GETHSEMA1STE  AND  CALVARY. 


5 


Near  Absalom’s  Pillar,  a  small  stone  bridge,  of  one  low 
arch,  leads  over  the  narrow  ravine  to  the  Temple  Hill. 
A  rough  channel  has  been  torn  in  the  valley  beneath  it 
by  the  rain-floods  of  past  times,  but  of  a  channel  beyond 
there  are  no  signs  a  short  distance  above  or  below  it,  the 
upper  reaches  of  the  valley  being  walled  across,  here  and 
there,  with  loose  stones  to  form  grain-plots.  The  Ivedron 
used  in  olden  da}^s  to  flow  here,  but  there  is  no  stream  now, 
even  after  the  heaviest  rain,  the  loose  rubbish  which  has 
poured  from  the  ruin  of  the  walls  and  buildings  of  the 
city  above,  during  many  sieges,  having  so  filled  the  old  bed 
that  any  water  there  may  be  now  percolates  through  the 
soil  and  disappears.  At  least  seventy-five  feet  of  such 
wreckage  lies  over  the  bottom  of  the  upper  part  of  the 
valley  and  on  the  slopes  of  the  Temple  Hill  leading  down 
to  it ;  but  even  this  is  far  less  than  what  has  been  tumbled 
into  the  Tyropceon,  on  the  other  side  of  the  hill.  There 
100  feet  of  rubbish  hides  the  stones  of  the  old  Temple 
walls,  thrown  into  it  after  the  destruction  of  the  Temple 
by  Nebuchadnezzar’s  soldiery. 

In  the  steep,  rocky  part  of  the  Ivedron  valley,  near 
the  tombs  of  the  Jewish  cemetery,  there  are  no  olive- 
trees  to  be  seen,  but  they  begin  to  be  numerous  on  the 
upper  side  of  the  little  bridge,  and  there  are  some 
almond -trees  on  Mount  Moriah.  The  walls  of  the 
Temple  enclosure  proudly  crown  the  eastern  side  of  the 
hill,  their  colossal  size  still  exciting  the  same  astonish¬ 
ment  as  it  once  roused  in  the  disciples,  when  they  called 
aloud,  “  Master,  see  what  manner  of  stones  and  what 
buildings  !  ”*  On  the  bridge,  or  near  it,  some  lepers  were 
standing  or  sitting  on  the  ground,  begging ;  hideous  in 
their  looks  and  their  poverty.  A  water-seller  or  two, 
also,  were  standing  at  the  wall,  offering  their  doubtful 


1  Mark  xiii.  1. 


6 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


beverage  to  passers-by.  The  bridge  is  the  one  passage 
from  the  east  side  of  Jerusalem  to  Mount  Olivet  and 
Siloam,  so  that  there  are  always  some  people  passing. 
Sheep  graze  on  the  wretched  growth  near  the  tombs  ;  their 
guardians,  picturesque  in  their  poverty,  resting  in  some 
shady  spot  near.  Asses  with  burdens  of  all  kinds  jog 
along  over  the  sheets  of  rock,  their  drivers  walking  quietly 
behind  the  last  one.  The  creatures  never  think  of  run¬ 
ning,  and  there  is  only  one  possible  path,  so  that  it  is 
not  necessary  to  lead  them.  A  church,  known  as  the 
Chapel  of  the  Tomb  of  the  Virgin,  stands  within  white 
walls  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  bridge,  and  a  short  way 
down  from  it  is  a  garden,  to  name  which  is  enough : 
Gethsemane — “  the  Oil  Press  ; 5J  the  spot  to  which,  or  to 
some  place  near,  our  Lord  betook  Himself  after  the 
institution  of  the  Last  Supper  on  the  night  of  His  be¬ 
trayal.  Here,  in  the  shadow  of  the  Trees  of  Peace, 
amidst  stillness,  loneliness,  and  darkness,  except  for  the 
light  of  the  Passover  moon,  His  soul  was  troubled  even 
unto  death.  Here  He  endured  His  more  than  mortal 
agony,  till  calmness  returned  with  the  holy  submission  that 
once  and  again  rose  from  His  inmost  heart — “  Father,  not 
My  will,  but  Thine,  be  done  !  ”  Ho  Christian  can  visit 
the  spot  without  being  deeply  affected.  Numerous  olive- 
trees  still  grow  on  the  slopes  and  in  the  hollow,  and  of 
these  the  Franciscans  have  enclosed  seven  within  a  high 


wall,  in  the  belief  that  they  are  the  very  trees  under 
which  our  Saviour  prayed.  But  within  a  few  decades 
after  He  had  been  crucified,  the  Poman  general  Titus 
ordered  all  the  trees,  in  eveiypart  around  Jerusalem,  to  be 
cut  down  ;  and  when,  in  later  times,  others  had  taken  their 
places,  there  is  little  doubt  that  they,  too,  perished,  to 
supply  the  timber  or  fuel  needed  for  some  of  the  many 
sieges  Jerusalem  has  borne  since.  It  is,  hence,  impos- 


XXV.] 


GETHSEMANE  AND  CALVARY. 


7 


sible  to  tell  the  exact  site  of  the  ancient  Getlisemane,  nor 
is  it  essential  that  we  should.  Superstition  may  crave  to 
note  the  very  scene  of  a  sacred  event,  but  the  vagueness 
of  doubt  as  to  the  precise  spot  only  heightens  the  emotion 
of  a  healthy  mind,  by  leaving  the  imagination  free. 

That  the  Betrayal,  with  all  its  antecedent  agony,  took 
place  somewhere  near  the  small  Kedron  bridge,  there  can 
however  be  no  doubt,  for  the  flight  of  steps  which  for¬ 
merly  led  from  St.  Stephen’s  Gate  to  the  valley  was  the 
natural  exit  from  the  city  in  Christ’s  day.  These,  how¬ 
ever,  are  now  buried  beneath  100  feet  of  rubbish,  and 
no  one  would  venture,  in  the  night,  down  the  rocky 
descent  which  begins  a  short  distance  below  the  bridge. 
While,  moreover,  the  present  olive-trees  cannot  be  those 
beneath  which  our  Lord  kneeled,  the  fact  that  such  trees 
still  grow  on  the  spot  shows  that  it  was  just  the  place  for 
the  garden  of  our  Saviour’s  time  to  have  been,  though  it 
may  have  lain  above  the  bridge  instead  of  below  it.  The 
spot  now  called  Gethsemane  seems  to  have  been  fixed 
upon  during  the  visit  of  the  Empress  Helena  to  Jeru¬ 
salem,  in  a.d.  326,  when  the  places  of  the  Crucifixion  and 
the  Resurrection  were  supposed  to  have  been  identified. 
But  300  years  is  a  long  interval;  as  long,  indeed,  as  the 
period  from  Queen  Elizabeth’s  day  till  now,  and  any 
identification  made  after  such  a  time  must  be  doubtful. 
Yet  the  site  that  can  boast  recognition  of  nearly  1,600 
years  has  deep  claims  on  our  respect,  though  other  similar 
enclosures  exist  near  it,  and  other  olive-trees  equally 
ancient  are  seen  in  them.  At  one  time  the  garden  was 
larger  than  at  present,  and  contained  several  churches  and 
chapels.  The  scene  of  the  arrest  of  Christ  was  pointed 
out,  in  the  Middle  Ages,  in  what  is  now  called  “  the 
Chapel  of  the  Sweat,”  and  the  traditions  respecting  other 
spots  connected  with  the  last  hours  of  our  Lord  have  also 


8 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


varied,  but  only  witliin  narrow  limits,  for  since  the  fourth 
century,  at  all  events,  the  garden  has  always  remained  the 
same. 

The  wall  of  Gethsemane,  facing  Jerusalem,  is  con¬ 
tinuous,  the  entrance  to  the  garden  being  by  a  small  door 
at  the  eastern,  or  Mount  of  Olives,  side.  Immediately 
outside  this  you  are  shown  the  spot  where  Peter,  James, 
and  John  are  said  to  have  slept  during  the  Agony ;  and 
the  fragment  of  a  pillar,  a  few  paces  to  the  south,  hut  still 
outside  the  garden,  is  pointed  to  as  the  place  where  Judas 
betrayed  his  Master  with  a  kiss.  The  garden  itself  is  an 
irregular  square,  160  feet  long,  and  ten  feet  narrower, 
divided  into  flower-beds  and  protected  by  hedges ;  alto¬ 
gether,  so  artificial,  trim,  and  modern  that  one  is 
staggered  by  the  difference  between  the  reality  and  what 
might  be  expected.  The  seven  olive-trees  are  evidently 
very  old ;  their  trunks,  in  some  cases,  burst  from  age,  and 
shored  up  with  stones  ;  the  branches  growing  like  thin  rods 
from  the  massive  stems,  one  of  which  measures  nineteen 
feet  in  circumference.  Poses,  pinks,  and  other  flowers 
blossom  in  the  borders  of  the  enclosure,  and  here  also 
are  some  young  olive-trees  and  cypresses.  Olive  oil  from 
the  trees  of  the  garden  is  sold  at  a  high  price,  and  rosaries 
made  from  stones  of  the  olives  are  in  great  request.  I 
wish,  however,  there  were  less  of  art  and  more  of  nature 
in  such  a  spot,  for  it  is  easier  to  abandon  one’s  self  to  the 
tender  memories  of  Gethsemane  under  the  olives  on  the 
slope  outside  the  wall,  than  amidst  the  neat  walks  and 
edgings  and  flower-beds  within  it. 

The  Chapel  of  the  Tomb  of  the  Virgin,  over  the  tra¬ 
ditional  spot  where  the  Mother  of  our  Lord  was  buried 
by  the  Apostles,  is  about  fifty  steps  east  of  the  little 
bridge,  and  is  mostly  underground.  Three  flights  of  steps 
lead  down  to  the  space  in  front  of  it,  so  that  nothing  is 


XXV.] 


GETHSEMANE  AND  CALYARY. 


9 


seen  above  ground  but  the  porch.  But  even  after  you 
have  gone  down  the  three  flights  of  stairs,  you  are  only 
at  the  entrance  to  the  church,  amidst  marble  pillars,  flying 
buttresses,  aud  Pointed  arches.  Forty-seven  additional 
marble  steps,  descending  in  a  broad  flight  nineteen  feet 
wide,  lead  down  a  further  depth  of  thirty-five  feet,  and 
here  you  are  surrounded  by  monkish  sites  and  sacred 
spots.  The  whole  place  is,  in  fact,  two  distinct  natural 
caves,  enlarged  and  turned  to  their  present  uses  with 
infinite  care  ;  curious  from  the  locality,  and  perhaps  no 
less  so  as  an  illustration  of  the  length  to  which  supersti¬ 
tion  may  go  in  destroying  the  true  sacredness  of  a  spiritual 
religion  like  Christianity.  Far  below  the  ground,  you 
find  a  church  thirty-one  }utrds  long,  and  nearly  seven  wide, 
lighted  by  many  lamps,  and  are  shown  the  tomb  of  the 
father  and  mother  of  the  Virgin,  and  that  of  Joseph  and 
the  Virgin  herself ;  and  as  if  this  were  not  enough,  a  long 
subterranean  gallery  leads,  down  six  steps  more,  to  a  cave 
eighteen  yards  long,  half  as  broad,  and  about  twelve  feet 
high,  which  you  are  told  is  “  the  Cavern  of  the  Agony  ”  ! 
Of  course,  sacred  places  so  august  could  not  be  left  in 
the  hands  of  any  single  communion,  so  that  portions  be¬ 
long  respectively  to  the  Greeks,  Armenians,  Abyssinians, 
and  Mahommedans.  Yet  the  whole  is  very  interesting, 
for  the  beautiful  architecture  of  marble  steps,  pillars, 
arches,  and  vaulted  roof,  owes  its  present  perfection  to 
the  beneficence  of  Queen  Melesind  or  Millicent,  in  the 
twelfth  century,  and  is  perhaps  the  most  perfectly  pre¬ 
served  specimen  of  the  work  of  the  Crusading  church - 
builders  now  extant  in  Palestine. 

Gethsemane  and  the  Chapel  of  the  Tomb  of  the 
Virgin  are  at  the  foot  of  the  Mount  of  Olives,  which  can 

o 

easily  be  ascended  from  them,  for  its  summit  lies  only 
about  350  feet  higher,  and  is  reached  by  a  gentle  incline. 


10 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


up  which  one  may  walk  pleasantly  in  about  a  quarter  of 
an  hour.  A  pilgrim  was  reverently  kissing  the  rocks  be¬ 
hind  Gethsemane  ;  flocks  of  black  goats  and  white  sheep 
nibbled  the  hill  plants  or  scanty  grass  ;  the  rubbish- 
slopes  of  Mount  Moriah  rose,  sprinkled  with  bushes  and 
a  few  fruit-trees,  making  them  look  greener  than  the 
comparatively  barren  and  yellow  surface  of  the  Mount 
of  Olives.  Yet  the  olives  scattered  in  clumps  or  singly 
over  all  the  ascent,  made  it  easy  enough  to  realise  how  the 
hill  got  its  name  from  being  once  covered  with  their 
white -green  foliage,  refreshing  the  eye,  and  softening  the 
pale  }^ellow  of  the  soil.  A  woman  and  child,  ascending 
the  hill  to  the  village  at  its  top,  or  going  round  to 
Bethany,  were  leading  along  a  single  sheep — perhaps  all 
their  wealth,  for  there  are  still,  as  in  the  time  of  Nathan 
and  David,  rich  men  who  own  “  exceeding  many  flocks 
and  herds/’  and  many  a  poor  man  who  has  only  u  one 
little  ewe  lamb,”  which  grows  up  together  with  him  and 
with  his  children,  and  eats  of  his  own  morsel,  and  drinks 
of  his  own  cup,  and  lies  at  night  in  his  bosom,  and  is  unto 
him  as  a  daughter.1  In  the  mud  hovels  of  the  peasantry 
such  creatures  walk  freely  about  the  little  mud-walled 
court,  and  in  and  out  of  the  doorless  hut,  on  the  floor  of 
which  the  family  lie  down  at  night  to  sleep. 

The  whole  slope  of  Olivet  is  seamed  with  loose  stone 
walls,  dividing  the  property  of  different  owners,  and  is 
partly  ploughed  and  sown,  but  there  is  a  path  leading 
unobstructedly  from  behind  Gethsemane  to  the  top  of  the 
hill.  Many  of  the  enclosures  are  carefully  banked  into 
terraces  from  which  the  stones  have  been  laboriously 
gathered  into  heaps,  or  used  to  heighten  and  strengthen 
the  walls ;  and  when  I  visited  the  place  there  were  some 
orchards  in  which  olive,  pomegranate,  fig,  almond,  and 

1  2  Sam.  xii.  2,  3. 


XXV.] 


GETHSEMANE  AND  CALVARY. 


11 


other  trees  showed  their  fresh  spring  leaves,  or  swelling 
buds.  Nor  is  any  part  of  the  slope  without  its  flowers : 
anemones  and  other  blossoms  were  springing  even  in  the 
clefts  of  the  rocks. 

There  may  be  said  to  he  three  summits :  the  centre 
one  slightly  higher  than  the  others,  like  a  low  head  be¬ 
tween  two  shoulders.  This  middle  height  is  covered  on 
the  top  with  buildings,  among  which  is  the  Church  of  the 
Ascension,  though  it  is  certain  that  Christ  did  not  ascend 
from  the  summit  of  Olivet,  for  it  is  expressly  said  that 
He  led  His  disciples  “  out,  as  far  as  to  Bethany,”  and, 
moreover,  the  top  of  the  hill  was  covered  with  buildings 
in  Christ’s  day.  From  a  very  early  date,  however,  it  has 
been  supposed  to  he  the  scene  of  the  great  event,  for 
Constantine  built  upon  it  a  church  without  a  roof,  to 
mark  the  spot.  Since  then,  one  church  has  succeeded 
another,  the  one  before  the  present  dating  from  a.d. 
1130,  when  it  was  built  by  the  Crusaders;  hut  this 
in  turn  having  become  ruinous,  it  was  rebuilt  in  1834, 
after  the  old  plan.  It  stands  in  a  large  walled  space 
entered  by  a  fine  gate,  hut  is  itself  very  small,  measur¬ 
ing  only  twenty  feet  in  diameter ;  a  small  dome  over  a 
space  ^n  the  centre  marking,  it  is  asserted,  the  exact 
spot  from  which  our  Lord  ascended.  This  specially  holy 
spot  belongs  to  the  Mahommedans,  who  show  a  mark  in 
the  rock  which,  they  tell  you,  is  a  footprint  of  Christ. 
Christians  have  to  content  themselves  with  having  mass 
in  the  chapel  on  some  of  the  great  Church  feasts.  The 
church  stands  in  the  centre  of  the  enclosure. 

The  minaret  of  a  dervish  monastery,  just  outside  the 
wall,  on  the  left,  in  front  of  a  miserable  village,  affords 
the  finest  view  to  be  had  around  Jerusalem.  No  one 
hindered  my  ascending  it  by  the  stairs  inside,  though 
some  children  and  men  watched  me,  that  I  might  not 


12 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap 


get  away  without  an  effort  on  their  part  to  get  bakshish. 
On  the  west  lay  Jerusalem,  200  feet  below  the  ground 
I  had  left.  The  valley  of  the  Ivedron  was  at  my  feet, 
and  above  it  the  great  Temple  area,  now  sacred  to  the 
Aksa  Mosque,  and  to  that  of  Omar,  which  rose  glitter¬ 
ing  in  its  splendour  in  the  bright  sunshine.  Beyond, 
the  city  stretched  out  in  three  directions  ;  slender  minarets 
shooting  up  from  amidst  the  hundreds  of  flat  roofs  which 
reached  away  at  every  possible  level,  and  were  varied  by 
the  low  domes  swelling  up  from  each  of  them  over  the 
stone  arch  of  the  chamber  beneath ;  the  great  dome  of  the 
Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  and  the  towers  of  the 
citadel  standing  proudly  aloft  over  all.  The  high  city 
walls,  yellow  and  worn  with  age,  showed  many  a  green 
field  inside  the  battlements. 

Turning  to  the  north,  a  rich  olive-garden  spread  away 
from  before  the  Damascus  Gate,  and  the  long  slope  of 
Hebi  Samwil  or  Mizpeh  closed  the  view,  in  the  distance, 
like  a  queen  among  the  hills  around,  with  its  command¬ 
ing  height  of  nearly  3,000  feet 1  above  the  sea-level. 
Close  at  hand  was  the  upper  part  of  the  Kedron 
valley,  beautiful  with  spring  flowers ;  and  overlooking 
Jerusalem  rose  Mount  Scopus,  once  the  head- quarters  of 
Titus,  when  its  sides  were  covered  with  the  tents  of  his 
legionaries.  On  the  south  were  the  flat-topped  cone  of 

the  Frank  Mountain,  where  Herod  the  Great  was  buried ; 

.» 

the  wilderness  hills  of  Judah;  the  heights  of  Tekoa  and 
of  Bethlehem,  which  itself  is  out  of  sight,  though  the 
neighbouring  villages,  clinging  to  richly- wooded  slopes,  are 
visible ;  the  hills  bounding  the  Plain  of  Bephaim  or  the 
Giants ;  and  the  Monastery  of  Mar  Elias,  looking  across 
from  its  eminence  towards  Jerusalem.  But  the  most 
striking  view  is  towards  the  east.  It  is  impossible  to 

1  2,935  feet. 


XXV.] 


GrETHSEMANE  AND  CALVARY. 


13 


realise,  till  one  lias  seen  it,  Low  the  landscape  sinks,  down, 
and  ever  down,  from  beyond  the  Mount  of  Olives  to  the 
valley  of  the  Jordan.  It  is  only  about  thirteen  miles, 
in  a  straight  line,  to  the  Dead  Sea,  but  in  that  distance 
the  hills  fall  in  gigantic  steps  till  the  blue  waters  are 
actually  3,900  feet  below  the  spot  on  which  I  stood. 
It  seemed  incredible  tbat  they  should  be  even  so  far 
off,  for  the  pure  transparent  air  confounds  all  idea  of 
distance,  and  one  could  only  correct  the  deception  of 
the  senses  by  remembering  that  these  waters  could  be 
reached  only  after  a  seven  hours’  ride  through  many 
gloomy,  deep-cut  ravines,  and  fearfully  desolate  waterless 
heights  and  hills,  over  which  even  the  foot  of  a  Bedouin 
seldom  passes.  Nor  are  the  3,900  feet  the  limit  of  this 
unique  depression  of  the  earth’s  surface,  for  the  Dead  Sea 
is  itself,  in  some  places,  1,300  feet  deep,  so  that  the  bottom 
of  the  chasm  in  which  it  lies  is  5,200  feet  below  the 
top  of  Mount  Olivet.  The  colour  of  the  bills  adds  to  the 
effect.  Dull  greenish-grey  till  they  reach  nearly  to  the 
Jordan  valley,  they  are  then  stopped,  at  right  angles,  by  a 
range  of  flat-topped  bills  of  mingled  pink,  yellow,  and 
white.  The  hills  of  Judah,  on  the  right,  looked  like 
crumpled  waves  of  light-brown  paper,  more  or  less  strewn 
with  dark  sand — the  ideal  of  a  wilderness  ;  those  before 
me  w7ere  cultivated  in  the  nearer  valleys  and  on  the  slopes 
beyond.  Behind  the  pinkish  hills  on  which  I  looked 
down,  lay  the  ruins  of  Jericho  and  the  famous  circle 
of  the  Jordan,  beneath  the  mud-slant  of  which  lies  the 
wreck  of  the  Cities  of  the  Plain  :  then  came  the  deep- 
blue  waters  of  the  Dead  Sea,  and  beyond  them  the  pink, 
flat-topped  mountains  of  Moab,  rising  as  high  as  my  stand¬ 
ing-place.  To  the  far  south  of  these  mountains,  on  a 
small  eminence,  lay  the  town  of  Kerak,  once  the  capital  of 
King  Mesba,  the  Kir  Haresh,  Kir  Hareseth,  Kir  Ileres, 


14  THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE.  [Chap. 

and  Kir  Moab  of  the  prophets.1  There,  when  Israel 
pressed  their  siege  against  his  capital,  King  Mesh  a  offered 
up  on  the  brick  city  walls  to  the  national  god,  Che- 
mosh,  his  eldest  son,  “  who  should  have  reigned  in  his 
stead.”  Nearer  at  hand,  in  the  same  range,  but  hidden 
from  view,  frowning  over  a  wild  gorge  below,  lay  the 
black  walls  of  Machserus,  within  which  John  the  Baptist 
pined  in  the  dungeons  of  Herod  Antipas,  till  the  sword 
of  “  the  fox’s  ”  headsman  set  his  great  soul  free  to  rise  to 
a  foremost  place  in  heaven.  And  at  the  mouth  of  that 
deep  chasm,  amongst  rushing  waters,  veiled  by  oleanders, 
lay  Callirhoe,  with  its  famous  hot  springs,  where  Herod 
the  Great  nearly  died  when  carried  over  to  try  the  baths, 
and  whence  he  had  to  be  got  back  as  best  might  be  to 
Jericho,  to  breathe  his  last  there  a  few  days  after.  South 
of  this  lay  the  wide  opening  in  the  hills  which  marked 
the  entrance  of  the  Arnon  into  the  Head  Sea,  once  the 
northern  boundary  of  Moab.2  To  the  north,  across  the 
Jordan,  rose  the  mountains  of  Gilead,  from  Gerasa,  beyond 
the  Jabbok,  where  Jacob  divided  his  herds  and  flocks,  and 
sent  them  forward  in  separate  droves,  for  fear  of  his 
brother  Esau,  and  near  which,  at  Peniel,  he  wrestled  with 
the  angel  through  a  long  night.3  Then,  sweeping  south¬ 
wards,  still  beyond  the  Jordan,  which  flowed,  unseen,  in  its 
deep  sunken  bed,  one  saw  Baal  Peor,  where  the  Israelites 
sinned,  and  Mount  Pisgali,  whence  Moses  looked  over 
the  Promised  Land  he  was  not  to  enter,  and  Mount  Nebo, 
where  he  died,  though  we  know  not  what  special  peaks 
to  associate  with  these  memories.  Where  the  Jordan 
valley  opens,  the  course  of  the  stream  was  shown  by  a 
winding  green  line  threading  a  white  border  of  silt  and 


1  Isa.  xv.  1  ;  xvi.  11  ;  Jer.  xlviii.  31,  36 ;  Isa.  xvi.  7  ;  2  Kings  iii.  25. 

2  Num.  xxi.  13,  26  ;  Deut.  iii.  8  ;  Josh.  xii.  1  ;  Isa.  xvi.  2  ;  Jer.  xlviii.  20. 

3  Gen.  xxxii.  16,  24 


XXV.] 


GETHSEMANE  AND  CALYARY. 


15 


stones.  At  its  broadest  part,  before  reaching  the  Dead 
Sea,  now  lying  so  peacefully  and  in  such  surpassing 
beauty  below  me,  the  valley  becomes  a  wide  plain,  green 
with  spring  grain  and  groves  of  fruit-trees,  including 
palms.  Such  a  view,  so  rich  in  hallowed  associations,  can 
be  seen  only  in  Palestine. 

The  Mount  of  Olives  has  been  holy  ground  from  the 
almost  immemorial  past.  On  its  top  David  was  cc  wor¬ 
shipping  God  ”  on  his  flight  from  J erusalem  to  escape 
from  Absalom’s  revolt,  his  eyes  in  tears,  his  head  covered 
with  his  mantle,  his  feet  bare,  when  Hushai,  his  friend, 
came,  as  if  in  answer  to  the  prayers  even  then  just  rising, 
and  undertook  to  return  to  the  city  and  undo  the  counsel 
of  Ahithophel.1  In  Ezekiel’s  vision  the  glory  of  the  Lord 
went  up  from  the  midst  of  the  city  and  stood  upon  the 
mountain  which  is  on  the  east  side  of  the  city — that  is, 
on  the  Mount  of  Olives;2  and  it  was  on  it,  also,  that 
Zechariah,  in  spirit,  saw  the  Lord  standing  to  hold  judg¬ 
ment  on  His  enemies ;  and  it  was  this  hill  which  His 
almighty  power  was,  one  day,  to  cleave  “  toward  the  east 
and  toward  the  west,”  so  that  there  would  be  “a  very 
great  valley  ”  through  which  His  people  might  have  a 
broad  path  for  flight.3  It  was  while  standing,  or  resting, 
on  this  hill  that  our  Lord  foretold  the  doom  impending 
over  Jerusalem ; 4  and  it  was  from  some  part  of  it,  near 
Bethany,  that  He  ascended  to  heaven.5 

Making  my  way  down  again  to  Gethsemane,  I  crossed 
the  little  stone  bridge  over  what  represents  the  old 
channel  of  the  Kedron,  when  that  torrent  was  a  reality, 
and  rode  up  a  path  to  the  St.  Stephen’s  Gate.  Erom  this 
point  the  comparatively  level  ground,  extending  along  the 

1  2  Sam.  XV.  32.  3  Zecli.  xiv.  4  ff. 

2  Ezek.  xi.  23.  4  Matt.  xxiv.  2  ;  Mark  xiii.  2 ;  Luke  xix.  41. 

6  Acts  i.  0,  12 ;  Luke  xxiv.  50. 


16 


,  THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


eastern  wall  of  the  Temple  enclosure,  is  a  Mahommedan 
cemetery  ;  each  grave  with  some  superstructure,  necessary 
from  the  shallowness  of  the  resting-place  beneath.  Over  the 
richer  dead  a  parallelogram  of  squared  stones,  or  of  stone 
or  brick  plastered  over,  hut  in  every  case  with  head  and 
foot  stones  jutting  out  high  above  the  rest,  is  the  com¬ 
monest  form.  The  poorer  dead  have  over  them  simply  a 
half-circle  of  plastered  bricks  or  small  stones,  the  length  of 
the  grave,  with  the  two  stones  rising  at  the  head  and  feet. 
No  care  whatever  is  taken  of  the  ground,  over  which  man 
and  beast  walk  at  pleasure,  nor  does  there  seem  to  be  any 
thought  of  keeping  the  graves  in  repair.  Coarse  herbage, 
weeds,  and  great  bunches  of  broad-leaved  plants  of  the 
lily  kind,  grow  where  they  like  amidst  the  utterly  ne¬ 
glected  dead. 

On  the  north  side  of  Jerusalem,  the  natural  rock,  cut 
into  perpendicular  scarps  of  greater  or  less  height,  forms 
at  different  points  the  foundation  of  the  city  walls.  At 
other  parts,  the  rock  juts  out  below  the  walls  in  its 
natural  roughness,  lifting  up  the  weather-stained,  many¬ 
angled  masonry  into  the  most  picturesque  outline.  On 
most  of  the  northern  aspects  of  the  walls,  cultivated  strips 
run,  here  and  there,  between  them  and  the  road,  the 
counterparts  of  similar  belts  and  patches  along  their  inner 
side.  Near  the  Damascus  Gate,  the  remains  of  an  old 
moat  heighten  the  effect  of  the  walls,  while  a  mound  of 
rubbish  on  the  other  side  of  the  road,  thrown  down  during 
the  building  of  the  Austrian  Hospice,  has  helped  to  con¬ 
fuse  the  ancient  appearance  of  the  spot.  About  100 
yards  east  of  the  gate,  in  the  rock,  nineteen  feet  below  the 
wall,  you  come  on  the  entrance  to  the  so-called  Cotton 
Grotto,  which  is  in  reality  an  extensive  quarry,  of  great 
antiqufty,  stretching  far  below  the  houses  of  the  city. 
The  opening  was  discovered  in  1852,  but  is  so  filled  with 


XXV.] 


GETHSEMANE  AND  CALYARY. 


17 


masses  of  rubbish  that  it  can  only  be  entered  by  stooping 
very  low,  or  by  going  in  backwards  and  letting  one’s  self 
down  some  five  feet  to  the  floor  of  the  quarry.  From  this 
black  mouth  the  gulf  stretches  away,  at  first  over  a  great 
bed  of  earth  from  the  outside,  then  over  rough  stones. 
The  roof,  about  thirty  feet  high,  is  coarsely  hewn  out, 
and  the  ground  underfoot,  as  you  go  on  for  645  feet,  in 
a  south-easterly  direction,  under  the  houses  and  lanes  of 
Bezetha,  is  littered  with  great  mounds  of  chips,  or  heaped 
with  masses  of  stone,  in  part  fallen  from  the  roof.  The 
excavations  slope  pretty  steeply  from  the  very  entrance 
to  a  depth  of  100  feet  at  their  far  end.  Some  boys  were 
playing  in  the  road  as  I  approached,  and  clamoured  to 
guide  me,  hurrying  away  to  buy  candles  and  matches 
with  money  I  gave  them  on  accepting  their  service. 
At  one  place,  deep  in  the  heart  of  the  quarry,  was  a 
small,  round  basin,  with  some  water  in  it;  the  hollow 
worn  by  the  slow  dripping  of  some  broken  cistern  in  the 
town  overhead.  The  lime  dissolved  by  the  water  hung 
here,  and  at  some  other  parts,  in  long  stalactites  from  the 
roof,  and  rose  in  white  mounds  of  stalagmite  from  the 
ground.  It  was  hard  work  to  follow  my  active  guides, 
who  often  gave  me  less  light  than  was  pleasant,  as  they 
tripped  lightly  over  the  masons’  rubbish,  lying  just  as  the 
workmen  had  left  it.  But  a  word  brought  them  back,  and 
they  were  very  careful  in  holding  their  candles  down  at 
specially  difficult  places,  where  huge  stones,  cut  thousands 
of  years  ago,  but  never  used,  lay  in  dire  confusion.  The 
roof  was  supported,  at  intervals,  by  very  rough  masses  of 
rock.  This  great  excavation  dates  from  no  one  can  tell 
what  period,  and  lay  forgotten  and  unknown  for  centuries. 
You  still  see  clearly  the  size  and  form  of  the  masons’  and 
hewers’  tools,  for  the  marks  of  the  chisel  and  the  pick  are 
as  fresh  as  if  the  quarriers  and  the  stone-cutters  had  just 
c 


18 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


left  tlieir  work.  They  appear  to  have  been  associated  in 
gangs  of  five  or  six  ;  each  man  making  a  cutting  in  the 
rock  perpendicularly,  four  inches  broad,  till  he  had  reached 
the  required  depth;  after  which,  wedges  of  timber,  driven  in 
and  wetted,  forced  oh  the  mass  of  stone  by  their  swelling. 
It  is  touching  to  notice  that  some  blocks  have  been  only 
half  cut  away  from  their  bed,  like  the  great  stone  at  the 
quarry  of  Baalbek,  or  the  enormous  obelisk  in  the  granite 
quarries  of  Assouan. 

In  all  probability  it  was  from  these  quarries  that  Solo¬ 
mon  obtained  the  huge  stones  which  we  see  built  into 
what  remains  of  the  Temple  walls,  and  of  its  area.  They 
were  evidently  dressed  before  being  removed,  so  as  to  be 
ready  to  be  laid  at  once,  one  on  another,  for  otherwise  it 
would  be  impossible  to  account  for  the  vast  quantities  of 
chips  and  fragments  on  the  bottom  of  the  quarry.  We 
can  thus  understand  the  words  of  the  sacred  writer  who 
tells  us  that  “  the  house,  when  it  was  in  building,  was 
built  of  stone  made  ready  at  the  quarry ;  and  there  was 
neither  hammer,  nor  axe,  nor  any  tool  of  iron  heard  in  the 
house  while  it  was  in  building.5’1  But  what  can  we  think 
of  a  man  who  could  doom  his  wretched  subjects — render¬ 
ing,  we  may  assume,  forced,  unpaid  labour  in  this  case  as 
in  his  other  great  undertakings— to  toil  in  the  dark¬ 
ness  and  dampness  of  these  subterranean  wastes,  not  only 
in  cutting  out  the  stone  from  the  rock,  but  in  squar¬ 
ing  and  finishing  it,  for  a  temple  to  Jehovah?  How 
many  lives  must  have  been  worn  out  in  these  gloomy 
abysses  !  Shards  of  pottery — perhaps  the  vessels  in  which 
they  once  put  their  humble  meals — with  fragments  of 
charcoal,  and  of  long-decayed  wood,  and  the  skeletons  of 
men  and  animals,  were  found  in  the  quarries  when  they 
were  re-discovered,  some  thirty-five  years  ago.  Niches  in 

1  1  Kino-s  vi.  7. 


XXV.] 


GETHSEMANE  AND  CALVARY. 


19 


tlie  rock,  and  spots  black  with  the  smoke  of  lamps  or 
candles,  show  where,  thousands  of  3Tears  ago,  a  feeble  light 
shone  out  on  the  pinched  features  and  worn  frames  of  the 
lonely  toilers,  the  equals,  after  a  few  years,  of  Solomon 
in  the  dusty  commonwealth  of  death,  in  spite  of  all  his 
glory  while  he  lived,  and  of  all  their  sweat  and  misery  at 
his  hand. 

Opposite  this  stupendous  quarry,  but  a  little  to  the 
east,  there  is  a  smaller  one,  known  as  the  Grotto  of 
Jeremiah,  from  the  fancy  of  the  Rabbis  that  the  prophet 
lived  in  this  cavern  after  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  and  wrote 
the  Book  of  Lamentations  with  the  ruins  of  the  city  thus 
before  him.  It  is  a  vast  excavation,  though  dwarfed  by 
comparison  with  its  rival  close  at  hand.  TV  hat  appears 
cannot,  however,  give  any  idea  of  what  has  been  removed, 
for  it  is  evident  that  the  rock  at  one  time  joined  that  on 
which  the  wall  stands,  and  has  been  cleared  away,  in  the 
course  of  ages,  till  we  have  the  slow  ascent  that  now 
begins  from  the  Damascus  Gate.  The  quarry  extends  for 
about  100  feet  into  the  rock,  and  underneath  it  are  vast 
cisterns,  the  roof  of  the  largest  of  which  is  borne  up  by 
great  square  pillars  of  stone ;  both  the  roof  and  the  sides 
being  plastered  over.  There  was  excellent  water  in  the 
cistern,  at  the  depth  of  nearly  forty  feet  from  the  top  :  an 
illustration  of  the  universal  presence  of  huge  reservoirs  for 
collecting  surface  water,  where  springs  are  so  rare.  In 
front  of  the  cave  is  a  garden,  planted  with  different  kinds 
of  fruit-trees,  and  separated  from  the  road  by  a  stone  wall 
of  no  great  height.  In  the  garden,  the  remains  of  a  build¬ 
ing  of  large  size,  of  the  time  of  the  Crusaders,  were  laid 
bare  in  1873;  a  range  of  stone  mangers  showing  that  it 
had  been  the  old  hostelry  of  the  Templars,  which  was  just 
outside  the  Damascus  Gate,  then  known  as  that  of  St. 
Stephen.  The  spade  and  pickaxe  have  still  much  to 
c  2 


20 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


unearth,  at  every  step  round  the  city.  In  the  month  of 
the  cave  a  Mahomrnedan  family  has  a  cottage,  and  thus, 
as  the  ground  over  the  cavern  is  a  Mahomrnedan  burial- 
place,  this  household  sleep  nightly  underneath  the  dead, 
from  whom  they  are  divided  by  only  a  thin  strip  of  rock. 
This  spot,  according  to  Rabbinical  tradition,  was  once 
“the  House  of  Stoning,”  that  is,  the  place  of  public 
execution  under  the  Jewish  law.  This  is  noteworthy,  in 
connection  with  the  question  of  the  site  of  Calvary. 

There  is  little  in  the  New  Testament  to  fix  the  exact 
position  of  the  “  mount  ”  on  which  our  Lord  was  crucified, 
though  the  statement  that  He  “  suffered  without  the 
gate  ” 1  is  enough  to  prove  that  the  Church  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre  is  not  on  the  true  site.  The  name  Golgotha, 
“  the  Place  of  a  Skull,”  may  well  have  referred  rather  to  the 
shape  of  the  ground  than  to  the  place  so  called  being  that 
of  public  execution,  and,  if  this  be  so,  a  spot  reminding 
one  of  a  skull  by  its  form  must  be  sought,  outside  the 
city.  It  must,  besides,  be  near  one  of  the  great  roads,  for 
those  who  were  “  passing  by  ”  are  expressly  noticed  in  the 
Gospels.2  That  Joseph  of  Arimathsea  carried  the  body  to 
his  own  new  tomb,  hewn  out  in  the  rock,  and  standing  in 
the  midst  of  a  garden,  outside  the  city,3  requires,  further, 
that  Calvary  should  he  found  near  the  great  Jewish  ceme¬ 
tery  of  the  time  of  our  Lord.  This  lay  on  the  north  side 
of  Jerusalem,  stretching  from  close  to  the  gates,  along 
the  different  ravines,  and  up  the  low  slopes  which  rise  on 
all  sides.  The  sepulchre  of  Simon  the  Just,  dating  from 
the  third  century  before  Christ,  is  in  this  part,  and  so 
also  is  the  noble  tomb  of  Helena,  Queen  of  Adiabene, 
hewn  out  in  the  first  century  of  our  era,  and  still  fitted 
with  a  rolling  stone,  to  close  its  entrance,  as  was  that  of 
our  Lord.  Ancient  tombs  abound,  moreover,  close  at  hand, 

1  Heb.  xiii.  12.  2  Mark  xv.  29.  3  Matt,  xxvii.  60  ;  John  xx.  15. 


XXV.] 


GETHSEMANE  AND  CALVARY. 


21 


showing  themselves  amidst  the  low  hilly  ground  wherever 
we  turn  on  the  roadside.  EverjJhing  thus  tends  to  show 
that  this  cemetery  was  that  which  was  in  use  in  the  days 
of  our  Lord. 

In  connection  with  this,  it  has  been  found,  by  a  com¬ 
parison  of  many  hundred  Jewish  tombs  in  Palestine,  that 
the  earlier  mode  of  constructing  them  was  to  cut  a  narrow, 
deep  hole  for  each  body  in  the  sides  of  the  rock,  the 
breadth  and  length  of  the  human  figure ;  the  dead  being 
put  into  it  with  the  feet  towards  the  outside.  At  the 
time  of  Christ,  however,  this  arrangement  had  given  place 
to  another,  in  which  a  receptacle  for  each  body  was  cut 
out  lengthwise,  along  the  side  of  the  tomb,  like  a  sarco¬ 
phagus,  or  grave.  The  tomb  of  our  Lord  must  have  been 
of  this  class,  since  two  angels  are  described  as  sitting, 
“the  one  at  the  head,  and  the  other  at  the  feet,  where  the 
body  of  Jesus  had  lain/’1  which  could  not  have  happened 
if  it  had  been  one  of  the  ancient  deep  holes  in  the  rock, 
into  which  the  body  had  been  put.  The  rolling  stone, 
moreover,  such  as  was  used  in  the  case  of  our  Lord’s 
tomb,  to  close  the  entrance,  was  introduced  shortly  before 
His  day,  and  is  found  only  in  connection  with  tombs  of 
the  later  kind.  But  this  kind  of  tomb,  with  this  mode 
of  closing  the  entrance,  is  not  found  at  Jerusalem,  except 
in  the  tombs  outside  the  Damascus  Gate. 

On  these  grounds  it  has  been  urged  with  much  force 
that  Calvary  must  be  sought  near  the  city,  but  outside 
the  ancient  gate,  on  the  north  approach,  close  to  a  main 
road,  and  these  requirements  the  knoll  or  swell  over  the 
Grotto  of  Jeremiah  remarkably  fulfils.2  Bising  gently 
towards  the  north,  its  slowly- rounded  top  might  easily 
have  obtained,  from  its  shape,  the  name  of  “  a  Skull  ” — in 
Latin,  Calvaria;  in  Aramaic,  Golgotha.  This  spot  has  been 


1  John  xx.  12. 


2  Pal.  Fund  Memoirs. 


22 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


associated  from  the  earliest  times  with  the  martyrdom  of 
St.  Stephen,  to  whom  a  church  was  dedicated  near  it 
before  the  fifth  century,  and  who  could  only  have  been 
stoned  at  the  usual  place  of  public  execution.  And  this, 
as  Captain  Conder  shows,  is  fixed  by  local  tradition  at 
the  spot  which  is  still  pointed  out  by  the  Jews  of  Jeru¬ 
salem  as  “the  Place  of  Stoning,”  where  offenders  were 
not  only  put  to  death,  but  hung  up  by  the  hands  till  sun¬ 
set,  after  execution.  As  if  to  make  the  identification  still 
more  complete,  the  busy  road  which  has  led  to  the  north 
in  all  ages  passes  close  by  the  knoll,  branching  off,  a  little 
further  on,  to  Gibeon,  Damascus,  and  Bamah.  It  was 
the  custom  of  the  Bomans  to  crucify  transgressors  at  the 
sides  of  the  busiest  public  roads,  and  thus,  as  we  have  seen, 
they  treated  our  Saviour  when  they  subjected  Him  to 
this  most  shameful  of  deaths.1  Here  then,  apparently,  on 
this  bare  rounded  knoll,  rising  about  thirty  feet  above  the 
road,  with  no  building  on  it,  but  covered  in  part  with 
Mahommedan  graves,  the  low  yellow  cliff  of  the  Grotto 
of  Jeremiah  looking  out  from  its  southern  end,  the  Saviour 
of  the  world  appears  to  have  passed  away,  with  that  great 
cry  which  has  been  held  to  betoken  cardiac  rupture — for 
it  would  seem  that  He  literally  died  of  a  broken  heart. 
Before  Him  lay  outspread  the  guilty  city  which  had 
clamoured  for  His  blood  ;  beyond  it,  the  pale  slopes  of 
Olivet,  from  which  He  was  shortly  to  ascend  in  triumph 
to  the  right  hand  of  the  Majesty  on  High ;  and  in  the 
distance,  but  clear  and  seemingly  near,  the  pinkish -yellow 
mountains  of  Moab,  lighting  up,  it  may  be,  the  fading 
eyes  of  the  Innocent  One  with  the  remembrance  that  His 
death  would  one  day  bring  back  lost  mankind — not  Israel 
alone — from  the  east,  and  the  west,  and  the  north,  and  the 
south,  to  the  kingdom  of  God. 


1  Luke  xxiii.  35. 


XXV.] 


GETHSEMANE  AND  CALVARY. 


23 


The  tomb  in  which  our  Lord  was  buried  will  be,  per¬ 
haps,  for  ever  unknown,  but  it  was  some  one  of  those,  we 
may  be  sure,  still  found  in  the  neighbourhood  of  “  the 
Place  of  Stoning. ”  Among  these,  one  has  been  specially 
noticed  by  Captain  Conder,  as  possibly  the  very  tomb  of 
Joseph  of  Arimathsea,  thus  greatly  honoured.  It  is  cut 
in  the  face  of  a  curious  rock  platform,  measuring  seventy 
paces  each  way,  and  situated  about  200  yards  west  of  the 
Grotto  of  Jeremiah.  The  platform  is  roughly  scarped  on 
all  sides,  apparently  by  human  art,  and  on  the  west  there 
is  a  higher  piece  of  rock,  the  sides  of  which  are  also  rudely 
scarped.  The  rest  of  the  space  is  fairly  level,  but  there 
seem  to  be  traces  of  the  foundations  of  a  surrounding  wall, 
in  some  low  mounds  near  the  edge  of  the  platform.  In 
this  low  bank  of  rock  is  an  ancient  tomb,  rudely  cut, 
with  its  entrance  to  the  east.  The  doorway  is  much 
broken,  and  there  is  a  loophole,  or  window,  four  feet  wide, 
on  both  sides  of  it.  An  outer  space,  seven  feet  square,  has 
been  cut  in  the  rock,  and  two  stones,  placed  in  this,  give 
the  idea  that  they  may  have  been  intended  to  hold  in 
its  proper  position  a  rolling  stone  with  which  the  tomb 
was  closed.  On  the  north  is  a  side  entrance,  leading 
into  a  chamber,  with  a  single  stone  grave  cut  along  its 
side,  and  thence  into  a  cavern  about  eight  paces  square 
and  ten  feet  high,  with  a  well- mouth  in  its  roof. 

Another  chamber,  within  this,  is  reached  by  a  descent 
of  two  steps,  and  measures  six  feet  by  nine.  On  each 
side  of  it,  an  entrance,  twenty  inches  broad,  and  about 
five  and  a  half  feet  high,  has  been  opened  into  another 
chamber  beyond;  the  passages,  which  are  four  and  a 
half  feet  long,  having  a  ledge  or  bench  of  rock  at  the 
side.  Two  bodies  could  thus  be  laid  in  each  of  the  three 
chambers,  which,  in  turn,  lead  to  two  other  chambers 
about  five  feet  square,  with  narrow  entrances.  Their  floors 


24  THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE.  [Chap.  XXV. 

were  still  tliinly  strewn  with  human  bones  when  Captain 
Conder  explored  them.1 

“  It  would  be  bold/'  says  that  careful  student  of  Bible 
archaeology,  “  to  hazard  the  suggestion  that  the  single 
Jewish  sepulchre  thus  found,  which  dates  from  about  the 
time  of  Christ,  is  indeed  the  tomb  in  the  garden,  nigh 
unto  the  place  called  Golgotha,  which  belonged  to  the 
rich  Joseph  of  Arimathaea.  Yet  its  appearance,  so  near 
the  old  place  of  execution,  and  so  far  from  the  other  old 
cemeteries  of  the  city,  is  extremely  remarkable/'  I  am 
sorry  to  say  that  a  group  of  Jewish  houses  is  growing  up 
round  the  spot.  The  rock  is  being  blasted  for  building- 
stone,  and  the  tomb,  unless  special  measures  are  taken  for 
its  preservation,  may  soon  be  entirely  destroyed. 


1  Pal.  Fund  Rept.,  1881,  pp.  203 — 4. 


CHAPTEB  XXVI. 


JERUSALEM  AND  BETHANY. 

A  few  steps  from  wliat  seems  so  reasonably  to  be  identified 
as  Calvary  bring  you  to  the  Damascus  Gate,  which  lies  at 
the  bottom  of  a  slope.  There  is  of  course  only  the  natural 
surface  for  travel ;  made  roads  being  virtually  unknown 
where  the  Crescent  reigns.  A  short  distance  from  the 
gate  large  hewn  stones  lie  at  the  side  of  the  track,  the 
remains  of  some  fine  building  of  past  ages,  now,  like  so 
many  others,  utterly  gone.  On  one  side,  the  road  has  a 
steep  bank,  several  feet  deep,  with  no  protection ;  on  the 
other,  ledges  of  rock  now  and  then  crop  out.  Balloon-like 
swellings  from  the  flat  roofs,  beneath  which  only  a  few  small 
windows  are  to  be  seen  ;  the  tall  mosque  of  the  dervishes, 
east  of  the  gate ;  some  minarets  ;  the  dome  of  the  Church 
of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  and  that  of  the  Mosque  of  Omar,1 
fill  up  the  foreground ;  the  yellow,  bare  slopes  of  the 
Mount  of  Olives,  dotted  still  with  the  tree  from  which  it 
takes  its  name,  and  the  pink  mountains  of  Moab,  with  the 
lights  and  shadows  of  their  heights  and  hollows,  close  in 
the  horizon.  The  gate  itself  is  a  fine,  deep,  Pointed  arch, 
with  slender  pillars  on  each  side,  and  an  inscription  above 
stating  that  it  was  rebuilt  in  the  year  a.d.  1504.  The 
front,  on  each  side,  is  in  a  line  with  the  walls,  though  a 
little  higher,  but  a  square  crenellated  tower  of  the  height 

1  Tlie  popular  name  is  used  in  these  pages,  as  being-  better  known  than 
the  new  one,  “  the  Dome  of  the  Rock.” 


26 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


QChap. 


of  the  centre  juts  out  on  either  side,  with  a  projecting  stone 
look-out  near  the  top,  at  the  corner  of  both,  in  shape  like 
a  small  house.  Excavations  show  that  there  has  always 
been  a  gate  at  this  spot.  A  reservoir  and  a  fragment  of 
an  ancient  wall  have  been  brought  to  light  close  by ;  and 
underneath  the  present  gate  there  still  exist  subterranean 
chambers,  of  unknown  age,  the  surface  level  having  been 
greatly  altered  in  the  course  of  time.  The  masonry  of 
the  gate  is  very  fine,  some  of  the  stones  measuring  seven 
feet  long  and  four  feet  broad  :  the  remains,  doubtless,  of 
earlier  structures.  Facing  the  north,  this,  the  finest  gate 
of  Jerusalem,  has  derived  its  name  from  the  trade  between 
the  city  and  the  distant  Syrian  capital.  Situated  at  the 
weakest  part  of  the  town,  where  alone  an  enemy  can 
approach  without  natural  difficulties  in  his  way,  it  has 
always  been  strongly  fortified.  It  was,  almost  without 
doubt,  through  the  gate  which  stood  on  this  spot  that  our 
Lord  bore  His  cross ; 1  and  it  was  through  this,  also,  that 
St.  Paul  at  a  later  date  was  led  away,  in  the  night,  to 
Caesarea ; 3  for,  as  I  have  said,  the  great  military  road  to 
the  north  must,  in  all  ages,  have  begun  at  this  point. 

The  ground  rises  very  gradually  towards  the  west 
from  the  gate ;  the  wall  running  along  very  imposingly 
over  the  rough  heights  and  hollows  of  the  natural  rock. 
A  long  train  of  camels,  tied  one  behind  another,  with  huge 
hales  of  goods  on  each,  and  a  man  riding  the  first  and  the 
last,  two  or  three  travellers  on  asses,  and  one  or  two  on 
horses,  all  of  them  thoroughly  Oriental  in  dress  and  fea¬ 
tures,  paced  northwards  as  I  turned  from  the  dried  mud 
which  does  duty  for  a  road,  with  its  immemorial  neglect 
on  all  sides,  and  rode  on  towards  the  Joppa  Grate.  With  a 
few  short  intervals,  some  fields  of  no  great  breadth  run 
along  the  outer  face  of  the  walls  in  this  part,  the  remains 
1  Heb.  xiii.  12.  2  Acts  xxiii.  31. 


XXVI.] 


JERUSALEM  AND  BETHANY. 


27 


of  tlie  fosse  stopping  them  on  the  one  side,  and  a  low  wall 
of  dry  stone,  alongside  the  road,  on  the  other.  The  rock 
coming  in  flat  sheets  to  the  surface  here,  at  different 
points,  made  the  track  more  like  a  civilised  highway;  and, 
on  the  country  side  of  it,  gardens,  within  stone  walls, 
brightened  the  route.  Until  recently  the  wide  space  be¬ 
tween  the  olive-groves,  farther  north,  and  the  city  wall, 
was  a  naked  stretch  of  broken  rock,  or  a  mere  waste, 
thinly  sprinkled  with  grass,  which  withered  into  hay  after 
the  brief  spring.  Of  late  years,  however,  the  ground  has 
fallen  into  the  hands  of  Christians,  and  this,  explain  it  how 
we  may,  accounts  for  the  change,  which  is  just  as  marked, 
in  similar  cases,  everywhere  in  Palestine.  Industry — the 
industry  which  always  in  this  land  characterises  our  re¬ 
ligion — has  made  the  wilderness  blossom  like  the  rose. 

In  early  times  this  suburb  was  diligently  utilised,  as 
the  remains  of  numerous  cisterns  and  tanks  sufficiently 
prove.  Each  Jews  had  their  fine  country-houses  here, 
under  the  shadow  of  their  olive  and  fig  trees,  and  wealthy 
Homan  officials  and  residents  doubtless  followed  their 
example,  for  the  shallow  shares  of  the  Eastern  plough 
constantly  turn  up  fragments  of  polished  marble  and 
cubes  of  mosaic  flooring.  It  must,  indeed,  have  been  the 
same  all  round  Jerusalem,  for  at  two  different  places  on 
the  Mount  of  Olives,  where  excavations  have  recently 
been  made,  the  mosaic  floors  of  baths  and  rooms  have  been 
laid  bare,  with  portions  of  the  columns  and  delicately 
finished  walls  of  the  mansions  to  which  they  belonged. 
Even  now,  those  who  can  afford  to  do  it  leave  the  city  in 
the  hot  months,  to  enjoy  the  coolness  of  the  orchards  out¬ 
side,  and  no  foreign  resident  then  lives  within  the  gates 
who  can  manage  to  get  a  house  beyond  them.  That  it 
has  been  always  the  same,  admits  of  no  question ;  in  fact, 
the  whole  upper  Kedron  valley  was  so  overgrown  with 


28 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


dwellings  in  the  generation  before  the  destruction  of  the 
city  by  Titus,  that  the  Jews  enclosed  it  within  a  new  city 
wall.  But  it  is  idle  to  look  for  any  notable  remains  of 
mansions,  or  of  public  buildings,  in  this  part,  any  more 
than  in  the  city  itself,  for  every  hostile  force  has  in  turn 
encamped  on  the  north  side  of  Jerusalem,  and  signalised 
its  presence  by  widespread  destruction.  How  much  blood 
of  the  most  widely  separate  races  has  this  soil  drunk  in  ! 
Here  perished  thousands  of  Bo  man  legionaries  and  auxili¬ 
aries  drawn  from  half  a  world ;  here  fell  thousands  of 
turbaned  Saracens ;  here  the  Crusaders  from  the  West 
sang  their  Frankish  songs  round  their  watch-fires ;  and 
since  then,  rocks  and  walls  have  echoed  with  the  war-cries 
of  the  rough  hordes  of  Central  Asia,  now  ossified  into  the 
modern  Turk.  Such  human  associations,  lighting  up  the 
darkness  of  the  past  writh  the  memory  of  great  events, 
give  even  so  poor  and  commonplace  a  scene  an  interest 
which  no  mere  natural  beauty  could  excite. 

At  the  north-west  corner  of  the  walls  the  ground  sinks, 
southwards,  to  the  Joppa  Gate,  and  rises  slowly  towards 
the  north-west.  Going  west,  we  reach  the  eastern  slope  of 
the  Yalley  of  Hinnom,  from  which  we  first  set  out  in  our 
circuit  of  the  Holy  City.  The  top  of  the  valley  is  covered 
with  an  extensive  Mahommedan  cemetery,  in  the  middle  of 
which  lies  the  broad,  flat  sweep  of  a  shallow  pool — the 
Birket-el-Mamilla — which  is  fed,  in  winter  and  spring,  by 
the  rains.  It  is  from  this  that  the  water  found  in  Heze- 
ki all’s  Pool,  in  the  city,  flows,  after  the  rains,  through  a 
small  aqueduct  which  is  open  at  different  points.  Cross¬ 
ing  the  sadly-neglected  city  of  the  dead,  with  its  forest  of 
head  and  foot  stones,  rising  higher  than  the  perpendicular 
slabs  of  our  churchyards  though  generally  narrower  than 
these,  one  is  surprised  to  reach,  on  the  farther  side, 
where  a  noble  terebinth  stands  as  outpost,  an  actually 


XXVI.] 


JERUSALEM  AND  BETHANY. 


29 


good  piece  of  road  leading  to  tlie  Joppa  Gate.  As  there  is 
hardly  such  a  thing  as  a  made  road  in  the  whole  country, 
from  Dan  to  Beersheba,  the  existence  of  this  short  frag:- 
ment  seems  inexplicable.  It  was  the  beneficial  result  of 
a  very  curious  impulse  to  diligence.  A  widespread  tradi¬ 
tion  affirmed  that  a  great  treasure  had,  in  some  past  age, 
been  buried  not  far  from  the  Joppa  Gate,  and  in  order  to 
secure  this,  some  adventurers  gave  out  that  they  wished 
to  make  the  road,  and  got  permission  to  do  so.  This 
apparently  wild  venture  had,  however,  more  justification 
in  the  East  than  it  would  have  had  with  us,  for  it  has 
often  happened  that  in  time  of  war,  or  to  escape  the  ex¬ 
tortion  of  pashas,  men  have  hidden  their  money  or  jewels 
in  the  ground,  and  have  died  without  revealing  the 
place,  so  that  their  wealth  has  been  lost  to  their  heirs. 
It  is,  indeed,  still  common  to  do  so  in  troublous  times  all 
over  the  East,  the  experiences  of  the  Indian  Mutiny  of  1857 
showing  many  examples,  so  that,  as  in  the  days  of  Christ, 
it  is  nothing  unusual  to  find  treasure  hidden  in  a  field.1 

The  road  from  the  terebinth-tree  to  the  Joppa  Gate  is 
nearly  level,  opening  on  the  wide  vacant  space  sacred  to 
loungers,  to  the  stalls  of  small  dealers,  to  asses  waiting  for 
hire,  and  to  camels  awaiting  their  burdens.  This  spot  is 
generally  very  hustling,  but  especially  so  as  the  noon  of 
Friday,  the  Mahommedan  Sunday,  approaches.  Everyone 
then  strives  to  get  into  the  city,  some  on  horses,  asses,  or 
camels,  but  the  great  majority  on  foot ;  young  and  old, 
men  and  women,  rich  and  poor,  in  all  the  parti-coloured 
brightness  of  Oriental  costume ;  for  at  twelve  on  the 
sacred  day  the  gates  are  shut  for  an  hour,  and  all  the 
faithful  think  it  right  to  hurry  at  that  time  to  the  Temple 
area,  to  pray  before  the  Mosque  of  Omar,  the  holiest  spot 
in  the  Mahommedan  world,  except  the  Ixaabah  at  Mecca. 

1  Matt.  xiii.  44. 


30 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


Just  so  it  must  have  been  in  ancient  times,  at  nine  each 
morning,  and  at  three  each  afternoon,  the  hour  of  morn¬ 
ing  and  evening  prayer  among  the  ancient  Jews,  when 
men  “went  up  into  the  temple,  to  pray/’ 1  And  just  as, 
in  our  time,  a  Mahommedan  stops  and  prays  wherever  the 
fixed  moment  for  doing  so  may  find  him,  his  face  towards 
Mecca,  so  the  Jew,  if  unable  to  get  to  the  Temple  Hill  before 
the  horns  of  the  Levites,  now  superseded  by  the  cry  of 
the  muezzin,  summoned  him  to  devotion,  turned  his  face 
towards  the  Holy  of  Holies,  wherever  he  might  be,  and  re¬ 
peated  the  prescribed  prayers,  still  heard  in  the  synagogues, 
for,  even  then,  forms  of  prayer  were  universally  used  by 
the  Chosen  People.  The  shutting  of  the  city  gate  has  its 
origin  in  a  belief  among  the  Moslem  that  the  Christians 
would,  at  some  time,  take  the  Holy  City  during  the 
great  hour  of  prayer,  if  this  precaution  were  neglected. 
Except  the  Joppa  Gate,  all  the  entrances  to  Jerusalem  are, 
further,  closed  each  night  at  sunset :  a  custom  as  old,  at 
least,  as  the  days  of  Joshua,  for  Eahab  tells  the  King 
of  Jericho  that  the  two  Jewish  spies  went  out  of  the  city 
“about  the  time  of  shutting  of  the  gate,  when  it  was 
dark.”  2 

To  realise  the  daily  life  of  ancient  Jerusalem,  it  is 
necessary  to  have  before  us  not  only  the  character  of  the 
streets,  narrow,  rough,  and  sometimes  sunk  in  the  middle 
at  once  for  a  gutter  and  a  track  for  animals ;  the 
flat-roofed  houses,  with  their  balloon  swellings  to  cover 
the  stone  arches  of  the  rooms ;  the  strange,  dark-arched 
bazaars,  like  long  narrow  tunnels,  with  the  booths  of  the 
traders  on  each  side ;  the  dress  of  the  people ;  the 
character  of  the  shops  and  the  articles  exposed  for  sale ; 
but  also  the  configuration  of  the  ground,  the  source  of  the 
ancient  water-supply,  and  much  else. 

1  Lnke  xviii.  10.  2  Josh.  ii.  5. 


XXVI.] 


JERUSALEM  AND  BETHANY. 


31 


At  present,  Jerusalem  receives  water,  so  essential  in 
any  country,  so  pressingly  vital  in  a  hot  climate,  from 
springs,  wells,  cisterns,  pools  or  reservoirs,  and  rivulets 
led  by  conduits  into  the  city. 

The  Fountain  of  the  Virgin,  in  the  valley  of  the 
Kedron,  or  of  Jehoshaphat,  is  the  only  true  spring  known 
to  exist  in  Jerusalem,  rising,  it  appears,  from  a  living 
source  beneath  the  great  Temple  vaults,  and  supplying 
the  many  fountains  flowing  from  of  old  in  the  Temple 
area,  and  now  sparkling  round  the  Mosque  of  Omar,  as 
well  as  maintaining  the  Fountain  of  the  Virgin  and  the 
Pool  of  Siloam.  Such  a  provision  of  ever  fresh  and  lim¬ 
pid  water  was  an  essential  in  ancient  worship,  which  in 
every  religion,  at  least  in  warm  climates,  required  copious 
supplies,  both  for  ablution  and  to  wash  away  the  blood 
of  the  sacrifices.  Without  such  a  provision,  indeed,  the 
Temple  could  hardly  have  been  raised  on  Mount  Moriah. 
This  local  water-supply  was  also  the  very  life  of  the  city 
itself,  in  times  of  siege  ;  Hezekiah  taking  the  precaution, 
as  we  have  seen,1  to  bring  its  stream,  by  a  subterranean 
tunnel  from  the  Virgin’s  Fountain,  which  was  carefully 
covered  up,  to  a  point  within  the  walls  to  which  access  was 
at  all  times  easy  by  a  rock- cut  staircase,  a  long  gallery  in 
the  limestone,  and  a  deep  shaft.  Milton  speaks  of  it  as 
the 

“ - brook  that  flowed 

Fast  by  the  oracle  of  God  :  ” 

a  holy  association  which  frequently  occurs  in  the  Sacred 
Writings.  “  There  is  a  [perennial]  river/’  chants  the 
Psalmist,  “  the  streams  whereof  make  glad  the  city  of  God, 
the  holy  place  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  Most  High.”2 
“  All  my  springs  [my  sources  of  delight]  are  in  thee,” 


1  See  Yol.  I.,  p.  550. 


2  Ps.  xlvi.  4 


32 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


says  another  of  the  sacred  odes.1  At  the  Feast  of  Taber¬ 
nacles  a  golden  vessel,  holding  about  a  pint  and  a  half, 
was  filled  daily  from  Siloam,  and  carried  np  to  the  Temple, 
amidst  music  and  jubilation  ;  so  that  the  Rabbis  say,  “  He 
who  has  not  seen  the  joy  of  the  water-drawing  has  never 
seen  joy  in  his  life.”  To  this  Isaiah  alludes  when  he  writes, 
“With  joy  shall  ye  draw  water  out  of  the  wells  of  salva¬ 
tion;’53  thinking  of  the  exiles  from  all  lands  resuming 
the  solemnities  of  the  Temple  worship.  In  Ezekiel’s 
vision,  moreover,  the  sacred  spring  in  the  Temple  rock 
is  to  swell  into  a  mighty  river,  flowing  eastward  and  west¬ 
ward  into  the  glens  of  Hinnom  and  Kedron,  and  pouring 
down  in  fertilising  streams  to  the  Dead  Sea,  whose  waters 
it  is  to  turn  to  a  living  flood. 

On  the  west  side  of  the  wall  of  the  old  Temple  en¬ 
closure  there  is  a  well  which  seems  to  tap  an  old  water¬ 
course  discovered  far  below  the  ancient  surface,  on  which, 
as  we  have  seen,  lay  the  huge  stones  of  Robinson’s  Arch, 
thirty  feet  below  the  present  one.  The  shaft,  which  is 
eighty  feet  deep,  passes  entirely  through  rubbish  into  the 
old  rock-hewn  conduit  which  runs  somewhere  to  the 
south :  a  relic,  perhaps,  of  the  great  works  undertaken  by 
Ilezekiah,  to  supply  the  city  with  water.3  There  may  be 
a  secret  spring,  now  unknown,  from  which  this  stream 
flows,  but  part  of  it  must  come  from  the  infiltration  of 
rain.  Permeating  such  a  mass  of  foul  rubbish,  it  is, 
however,  unfit  for  drinking,  though  freely  used  for  that 
purpose  by  the  inhabitants. 

The  oldest  cisterns  in  Jerusalem  have  been  made  bv 

1/ 

*  hewing  out  in  the  rock  a  bottle-shaped  excavation  at  the 
bottom  of  a  deep  shaft.  The  surface-rains,  and  the  per¬ 
colation  of  water  between  the  layers  of  rock,  are  sufficient 
to  keep  a  small  supply  in  these  reservoirs  even  in  the 

1  Ps.  lxxxvii.  7.  2  Isa.  xii.  3.  3  2  Cliron.  xxxii.  30. 


XXVI.] 


JERUSALEM  AND  BETHANY. 


33 


driest  weather.  Many  of  them  must  he  of  great  anti¬ 
quity,  and  it  is  quite  possible  that,  among  others,  that  in 
which  Jeremiah  was  for  a  time  confined1  may  still  be  in 
use.  Besides  these  there  are  great  subterranean  tanks, 
from  forty  to  sixty  feefc  deep,  hewn  out  of  the  soft  lime¬ 
stone,  which  in  Jerusalem  underlies  a  harder  bed  of  the 
same  stone.  The  roofs  of  flat  rock  are  thus  strong  enough 
to  support  themselves,  where  the  tank  is  of  moderate 
size,  hut  where  the  space  hollowed  out  is  large,  they  are 
upheld  by  pillars  of  stone  left  by  the  hewers.  Small 
holes  through  the  upper  hard  limestone  afforded  access  to 
the  softer  rock  for  these  gigantic  quarryings,  but  the 
labour  of  passing  through  such  narrow  apertures  all  the 
stones  and  chips  removed  must  have  been  immense ; 
nor  is  it  too  much  to  believe  that  the  laborious  plan  of 
leaving  the  native  rock  as  a  roof  shows  that  these  tanks 
were  dug  before  the  use  of  the  arch  was  known.  In  any 
case,  they  restore  one  feature  of  ancient  Jerusalem. 

A  third  form  of  cistern  is  that  of  a  simple  excavation 
in  the  rock,  with  an  arch  thrown  over  as  a  roof.  This 
kind  of  reservoir,  and  the  great  rock  tanks,  were  supplied 
in  ancient  times  by  aqueducts,  hut  now  depend  on 
impure  surface  drainage.  Still  a  fourth  class  of  cisterns 
has  been  built,  in  modern  times,  in  the  rubbish  over 
the  ancient  city,  depending  entirely,  of  course,  on  the 
rains.  In  the  hands  of  Europeans,  these,  being  carefully 
cemented  and  cleaned  out  each  year,  supply  clear  and  good 
water,  hut  those  in  the  native  houses  are  sadly  different. 
In  their  keenness  to  gather  all  the  water  they  can,  the 
owners  guide  all  that  falls  on  the  roof,  or  into  the  court¬ 
yard,  to  the  cistern,  and  even  collect  it  from  the  streets, 
which  are  habitually  foul  with  every  form  of  abomination. 
Hence,  as  the  year  advances,  and  the  supply  of  water  gets 

1  Jer.  xxxviii.  6. 


d 


34 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


low,  the  hideous  deposits  in  the  bottom  of  the  cisterns 
are  stirred  in  drawing  for  daily  wants,  with  a  painful 
result,  alike  in  the  horrible  mixture  drunk  by  the  popula¬ 
tion  and  in  the  smell  given  off.  Fever,  widely  spread, 
inevitably  follows,  with  numerous  deaths,  but  no  penalty 
seems  to  rouse  the  population  to  the  most  elementary 
regard  for  the  commonest  laws  of  cleanliness  and 
health. 

A  city  in  itself  so  strangely  unprovided  with  living 
springs  could  not,  however,  depend  in  its  prosperous  days 
simply  on  rain-water  tanks  or  cisterns,  or  on  the  flow 
from  the  Virgin’s  Fountain ;  and,  hence,  large  pools,  fed 
by  aqueducts,  were  added,  outside  the  city  and  within. 
There  are  two,  as  we  have  seen,  in  the  Valley  of  Hinnom ; 
then  there  are  the  two  pools  of  Siloam,  and  one  north  of 
the  city;  while  traditions  exist  of  others,  now  buried  be¬ 
neath  rubbish,  at  three  different  points  outside  the  walls. 
Within  the  walls  were  the  so-called  Pools  of  Hezekiah  and 
Betliesda,  now  virtually  useless.  I  have  spoken  of  all 
except  the  pool  north  of  the  city,  once  the  largest  of 
the  whole,  but  now  almost  filled  up  with  soil  washed 
into  it  by  the  rains.  Situated  at  the  head  of  the  Kedron 
valley,  it  was  admirably  placed  for  catching  the  drainage 
of  the  uplands  around  it,  the  supply  doubtless  being 
brought  into  the  city  by  a  conduit,  though  no  traces  of 
one  have  yet  been  discovered.  f 

Besides  the  well  on  the  rubbish  of  the  Tyropceon, 
there  is  only  that  known  as  Job’s  Well,  at  the  lower  side 
of  the  junction  of  the  Kedron  and  Hinnom  valleys.  Con¬ 
nected  with  this  is  a  tunnel,  about  six  feet  high,  and 
from  two  to  three  feet  wide,  cut  for  more  than  eighteen 
hundred  feet  along  the  bed  of  the  Hinnom  Valley,  to  the 
west,  at  a  depth  of  from  seventy  to  ninety  feet  below  the 
ground,  and  reached,  at  intervals,  by  flights  of  steps  hewn 


XXVI.] 


JERUSALEM  AND  BETHANY. 


35 


in  the  rock.  Slick  a  work,  dating  from  Bible  times, 
shows  the  spirit  and  enterprise  of  the  ancient  population, 
hut  it  also  proves  that  the  supply  of  water  for  the  city 
has  always  been  a  pressing  question.  It  must  have  been 
felt  that  the  supply  from  all  other  sources  was  insufficient, 
or  not  always  secure,  else  an  undertaking  so  serious,  at  a 
level  so  greatly  below  the  city,  would  not  have  been  pro¬ 
jected  or  carried  out.  Its  object  seems  to  have  been  to 
collect  the  water  which  flowed  over  the  lower  hard  lime¬ 
stone  strata  after  percolating  through  the  softer  beds 
above  them. 

To  realise  the  vigorous  life  of  the  ancient  Jewish 
citizens,  as  shown  in  their  arrangements  for  a  copious 
water-supply,  we  must,  moreover,  restore  in  fancy  the 
provision  they  made  for  bringing  it  from  a  distance  by 
aqueducts.  Thus,  from  the  Pools  of  Solomon,  beyond  the 
ridge^  on  the  south,  the  water  was  led  along  a  conduit  to 
Bethlehem ;  then  carried  under  that  town  bv  a  rock-hewn 
tunnel,  and  brought  on  in  another  conduit  to  the  Temple 
aTea,  into  the  huge  reservoirs  of  which  it  emptied  itself. 
The  length  of  this  gigantic  work,  in  all  its  windings,  is 
over  thirteen  miles  1 ;  an  amazing  triumph  of  engineering 
for  the  days  of  Solomon,  or  even  of  Hezekiali,  during 
whose  reign  the  first  rude  beginnings  of  Borne  were 
founded.  Indeed,  when  we  trace  it,  as  it  entered  and 
passed  through  Jerusalem,  wonder  is  even  heightened,  so 
great  are  the  difficulties  overcome.  Crossing  the  Valley  of 
Hinnom  a  little  above  the  Sultan’s  Pool,  on  pointed  arches 
sunk  to  the  level  of  the  ground,  it  winds  round  the  southern 
slope  of  Mount  Zion,  and  enters  the  city  at  the  west  side 
of  the  old  Tyropoeon  Valley,  crossing  which  by  the  help 
of  Wilson’s  Arch,  it  poured  its  waters  into  the  Temple 
cisterns.  Pipes  from  it  supplied  numerous  fountains  in 

1  70,000  feet. 


36 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


the  lower  part  of  the  city ;  and  inside  the  Temple  area 
there  was  an  elaborate  system  of  reservoirs,  regulating 
the  flow  of  the  stream,  and  providing  for  the  discharge  of 
the  waste  into  the  great  drain  that  ran  down  the  east  side 
of  Mount  Moriah  to  the  Kedron  valley.  This  vast  arrange¬ 
ment,  however,  has  long  ago  been  allowed  to  fall  into 
disrepair,  and  though  occasionally  patched  up  so  as  to 
work,  in  part,  for  a  time,  it  is  so  rarely  of  any  use  that  we 
may  regard  it  only  as  a  magnificent  relic  of  “  the  glory  of 
Solomon,”  whose  greatness  it  vividly  brings  before  us. 
For  since  a  large  supply  of  water  must  have  been  required 
at  the  Temple  from  the  very  first,  it  seems  natural  to 
accept  the  tradition  that  this  huge  aqueduct,  with  the 
pools  from  which  it  flows,  and  the  amazing  system  of 
reservoirs  under  the  Temple  area  into  which  its  waters 
were  poured,  are  a  memorial  of  the  achievements  of  the 
son  of  David. 

But  even  this  elaborate  work  is  thrown  into  compara¬ 
tive  shade  by  the  “  high-level  ”  aqueduct  which  brought 
water  at  such  a  height  as  to  supply  the  lofty  streets  of 
Mount  Zion.  South  of  Solomon’s  Pools,  in  a  glen  called 
Wady  Byar,  a  flight  of  rock-hewn  steps  leads  down  to  a 
chamber  sixty  feet  below  the  ground  at  its  upper  end,  and 
seventy  at  its  lower.  From  this,  a  tunnel,  frorh  five  to 
twenty-five  feet  high,  stretches  up  the  valley,  away  from 
Jerusalem,  ending  at  a  natural  cleft  in  the  rocks,  from 
which  water  freely  comes.  From  the  lower  end,  a 
similar  tunnel  runs  for  nearly  five  miles  through  hard 
limestone,  reaching  day,  at  last,  on  the  under  side  of 
a  great  dam  of  masonry,  which  crosses  the  whole  valley. 
Shafts,  sixty  to  seventy  feet  deep,  have  been  sunk  in  the 
rock,  in  the  course  of  this  long  excavation,  to  facilitate 
the  work ;  the  dam  being  intended,  as  it  seems,  to 
keep  back  the  surface-water  till  it  soaked  down  to  the 


XXVI.] 


JERUSALEM  AND  BETHANY. 


37 


channel  opened  for  it  beneath.  About  three  furlongs 
below  the  dam,  the  channel,  for  this  space  running  above 
ground,  enters  another  tunnel  a  third  of  a  mile  in  length, 
and  a  hundred  and  fifteen  feet  beneath  the  surface,  and  in 
some  parts  fourteen  feet  high.  A  masonry  channel  then 
winds  round  the  hill,  and,  sinking  below  the  ground 
again,  crosses  the  valley  at  the  head  of  which  lie  the  Pools 
of  Solomon,  tapping  the  so-called  “  Sealed  Fountain,”  and 
running  along  the  side  of  the  Valley  of  Urtas,  till,  near 
Bethlehem,  it  flowed,  anciently,  into  a  great  tank.  From 
this  the  water  was  carried,  by  means  of  an  inverted 
syphon  two  miles  long,  over  the  valley  in  which  is 
Bachel’s  tomb.  This  part  of  the  great  work  is  itself  an 
extraordinary  illustration  of  the  skill  of  the  ancient  en¬ 
gineers  who  contrived  it.  The  tube  for  the  water  is  fifteen 
inches  in  diameter,  the  joints,  which  seem  to  have  been 
ground  or  turned,  being  connected  by  an  exceedingly  hard 
cement,  and  set  on  a  frame  of  blocks  of  stone,  bedded  in 
rubble  masonry  all  round  to  the  thickness  of  three  feet. 
Unfortunately,  we  cannot  trace  the  last  section  of  the 
undertaking,  which  has  been  so  completely  destroyed  that 
it  is  not  known  where  the  aqueduct  finally  entered  Jeru¬ 
salem.  One  fact,  however,  and  that  an  astonishing  one,  has 
been  discovered,  viz.,  that  it  delivered  water  at  a  point 
twenty  feet  higher  than  the  sill  of  the  Joppa  Gate,  for  it 
seems  beyond  question  to  have  been  the  source  from  which 
the  bronze  statues  in  Herod’s  palace  gardens,  spoken  of  by 
Josephus  as  pouring  water  into  the  fountains,  obtained 
their  supply ;  and  the  palace  stood  on  the  top  of  Mount 
Zion.  The  glory  of  this  great  aqueduct  appears  due  to 
the  genius  of  Herod,  and  it  must,  therefore,  in  the  days 
of  our  Lord,  have  been  one  of  the  recent  wonders  of  his 
reign.  Or  was  it,  in  part  at  least,  clue  to  Pontius  Pilate? 
though  his  aqueduct  may  more  probably  have  been  one 


38 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


on  an  even  greater  scale,  traces  of  which  have  recently  been 
discovered,  and  by  which  water  was  brought  from  Hebron. 

It  is  strange  to  think  that  a  city  distinguished  by  such 
gigantic  provision  for  its  well-being  should  have  come  into 
prominence  at  so  late  a  period  in  the  history  of  Israel. 
Till  the  close  of  David’s  reign  at  Hebron  it  was  still  in 
the  hands  of  the  Jebusites,  who  seem  only  to  have  occupied 
Mount  Zion  ;  Moriah  being  still  left  to  the  husbandman.1 
Ezekiel  might  say  with  truth,  “  Thy  birth  and  thy  na¬ 
tivity  is  of  the  land  of  Canaan ;  thy  father  was  an 
Amorite,  and  thy  mother  a  Hittite.”  2  Here  only,  so  far 
as  we  know,  the  original  inhabitants  of  Palestine  kept 
their  footing  in  the  hills  for  centuries  after  the  Hebrew 
conquest,  thanks  to  the  almost  impregnable  position  of 
their  stronghold.  Built  on  a  summit  of  the  central 
ridge  of  the  country,  it  was  isolated  by  deep  valleys  on 
all  sides  but  the  north,  and  hence,  when  once  secured 
for  Israel,  it  was  the  main  guarantee  of  prolonged  national 
life.  Mount  Zion  rises  no  less  than  2,550  feet  above  the 
sea,  and  is  reached  on  all  sides  by  a  steady  ascent, 
differing  in  this  from  Hebron,  which,  though  the  hills 
immediately  north  of  it  are  nearly  1,000  feet  higher,3 
itself  lies  in  a  valley,  and  is  easy  of  approach  from  all  sides. 
Jerusalem,  on  the  contrary,  is  pre-eminently  a  mountain 
city,  alike  in  its  climate  and  in  its  military  strength. 
As  such,  it  is  sung  in  inspired  lyrics  and  imaged  by 
prophets:  “Plis  foundation  is  on  the  holy  mountains.”  4  It 
is  “  the  mountain  of  His  holiness.  Beautiful  for  situa¬ 
tion,  the  joy  of  the  whole  earth,  is  Mount  Zion,”5  “  which 
cannot  be  removed,  but  abidetli  for  ever.”  It  is  God’s 

1  This  is  shown  by  the  story  of  Araunah  the  Jebnsite. 

2  Ezek.  xvi.  3,  4,  5. 

3  3,500  feet  above  sea-level.  (Concler  Handbook,  p.  210). 

4  Ps.  lxxxvii.  1.  6  Ps.  xlviii.  1.  6  Ps.  cxxv.  2. 


XXVI.] 


JERUSALEM  AND  BETHANY. 


39 


“  lioly  hill.” 1  Jerusalem  was  “  Ariel/’  “  the  Lion  of  God,” 
<£  the  city  where  David  dwelt ;  ”  2  its  rocky  height,  the  lion’s 
lair.  “  In  Judah  is  God  known  ;  His  name  is  great  in 
Israel ;  in  Salem  also  is  His  tent,  and  His  dwelling  place 
in  Zion.”  3  Cut  off  by  the  deep  ravines  around  it  from 
the  possibility  of  wide  extension,  Jerusalem  was  noted  in 
the  earliest  times  for  its  compactness  :  it  was  “  huilded  as 
a  city  that  is  compact  together,” 4  though  the  sloping 
sides  of  Hinnom  and  Olivet  on  the  south  and  east,  and 
the  nearly  level  ground  on  the  north  of  the  city,  permitted 
the  growth  of  noble  suburbs,  as  wealth  increased.  But 
even  where  these  had  been  laid  out  in  gardens  round  the 
mansions  of  the  rich,  the  hills  swelled  up  on  every  side 
as  a  natural  defence,  recalling  the  verse  of  the  Psalm, 
“  As  the  mountains  are  round  about  Jerusalem,  so  the 
Lord  is  round  about  His  people  from  henceforth  even  for 

jj  5 

ever. 

As  at  present,  so  in  the  past,  Jerusalem  was  de¬ 
fended  by  a  circuit  of  walls.  In  recent  years  it  has 
extended  slightly  beyond  its  fortifications,  and  they  would 
he  of  no  real  value  against  artillery,  if  ever  it  should 
be,  with  infinite  labour,  dragged  up  from  the  coast 
plains.  But  in  ancient  times  its  walls  were  a  vital  neces¬ 
sity,  and  hence  they  constantly  figure  in  the  sacred 
writings.  “  Walk  about  Zion,  and  go  round  about  her  : 
tell  the  towers  thereof.  Mark  ye  well  her  bulwarks.”  6  It 
was  through  the  gates  in  these  ramparts  that  Jehovah  was 
to  enter  His  city,  when  the  Ark,  as  His  emblem,  was 
carried  up  in  triumph  through  them  by  David,  from  the 
house  of  Obededom,  and  it  may  have  been  at  this  high 
event  in  the  religious  history  of  the  nation  that  choirs  of 

1  Ps.  xliii.  3.  4  Ps.  cxxii.  3. 

2  Isa.  xxix.  1,  2.  5  Ps.  cxxv\  2. 

3  Ps.  lxxvi.  1,  2.  6  Ps.  xlviii.  12,  13. 


40 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


Levites  sang,  when  the  Palladium  of  Israel  was  thus 
slowly  ascending  to  its  mountain  sanctuary,  “  Lift  up  your 
heads,  0  ye  gates ;  and  be  ye  lift  up,  ye  ancient  doors, 
and  the  King  of  Glory  shall  come  in  !  ” 1  And  it  is  “  out 
of  Zion,”  His  stronghold,  that  Jehovah  will  raise  His 
thunder-like  war-cry,  and  lead  down  the  warriors  of  Israel 
against  the  heathen,  in  the  day  when  He  shall  tread  them 
down  in  the  valley  of  Jehosliaphat  as  men  tread  the  vint¬ 
age  grapes.2 

Among  the  different  localities  around  the  city,  none 
is  more  worthy  of  a  thoughtful  visit  than  Bethany.  Start¬ 
ing  from  the  Joppa  Gate  with  a  friend,  on  two  hired  asses, 
we  passed  slowly  round  to  the  path  that  slants  down 
from  the  Temple  walls  and  the  Mahommedan  cemetery, 
to  the  bridge  over  the  long- vanished  Kedron.  Crossing 
it,  perhaps  at  the  spot  where  our  Lord  often  crossed 
it  nearly  nineteen  hundred  years  ago,  we  passed  in  front 
of  Gethsemane,  southwards  ;  our  beasts  keeping  up 
their  pattering  walk,  for  it  is  always  to  he  remembered 
that  no  one  ever  rides  faster  than  a  walking  pace  in  a 
country  utterly  without  roads,  like  Palestine.  Gradually 
the  track  bent  to  the  east,  when  we  were  opposite  Ophel, 
on  the  other  side  of  the  valley,  and  climbed  the  south-west 
slope  of  the  Mount  of  Olives,  the  lower  part  of  which  we 
had  been  skirting  since  leaving  Gethsemane.  There  was 
no  pretence  of  a  road — simply  a  track  worn  by  the  traffic 
of  ages,  the  rock  cropping  out  at  intervals  in  broken 
layers  on  the  upper  and  under  sides,  and  even  on  the  path 
itself.  The  Mount  of  Offence  lay  on  our  right  hand, 
rising  from  the  hollow  below.  At  the  bend  of  the  road, 
where  we  turned  our  faces  almost  east,  the  huge  swell  of 
Olivet  rose  in  an  easy  slope  300  feet  above  us  on  the 
one  hand,  while,  on  the  other,  a  little  wa}^  off,  was  the 

1  Ps.  xxiv.  7.  2  Joel  iii.  16,  12. 


XXVI.] 


JERUSALEM  AND  BETHANY. 


41 


Mount  of  Offence,  bare  and  yellow,  about  a  hundred  feet 
lower  :  Bethany  itself  lies  400  feet  lower  than  the  top  of 
the  Mount  of  Olives,  but  our  Lord  no  doubt,  as  a  rule, 
when  on  foot,  took  the  path  which  still  goes  over  the 
summit,  and  is  used  habitually  by  the  peasants  from  its 
being  much  shorter  than  the  circuit  taken  by  us  as  more 
easy  for  riding. 

Passing  the  saddle  between  the  Mount  of  Olives  and 
the  Mount  of  Offence,  a  small  but  delightful  valley 
opened  out  on  the  lower  side,  adorned  with  fig,  almond, 
and  olive  trees,  the  road  continuing  comparatively  broad, 
though  here  and  there  roughly  cut  out  of  the  slopes  of 
rock. 

As  we  neared  Bethany,  which  is  about  two  miles 
from  Jerusalem  by  the  winding  road  we  had  taken,  the 
ground  sank  very  slowly  on  the  right,  with  outcrops  of 
the  flat  limestone  beds,  showing  themselves  like  steps 
amidst  the  thin  grass,  on  which  goats  and  sheep  were 
feeding.  Turning  aside  in  search  of  rock  tombs,  I  was 
greatly  affected  by  finding  several,  a  short  way  from  the 
road,  at  just  such  a  distance  from  Bethany  as  seemed 
to  suit  the  Gospel  account  of  the  tomb  of  Lazarus. 
They  were  simply  chambers,  entered  by  going  down  two 
or  three  steps  to  a  small  level  space  before  the  face  of 
the  rock,  which  has  been  hewn  perpendicularly,  and  then 
hollowed  out  to  receive  the  dead.  Entering  the  largest, 
which  was  the  size  of  a  very  small  low  room,  I  found  it 
thick  with  maidenhair  fern  ;  but  the  stone  had  long  ago 
disappeared  from  the  door,  and  there  was  no  sign  of 
burial.  Indeed,  if  it  were  the  tomb  of  Lazarus  there 
would  be  no  such  sign.  That  it,  or  one  of  the  others 
around,  was  that  in  which  the  brother  of  Martha  and 
Mary  had  lain,  appeared  very  probable,  since  there  seemed 
to  be  no  others  between  them  and  Bethany.  The  tomb, 


42 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


moreover,  was  outside  the  village,1  and  it  was  on  the 
Jerusalem  side  of  it,2  Jesus  having  travelled  by  way 
of  the  Holy  City,  which  would  lie  in  His  route  in 
coming  from  the  north.  It  may  well  he,  therefore, 
that  I  stood  on  the  very  ground  made  sacred  by  His 
footsteps,  and  that  this  was  the  very  spot  that  heard 
the  words,  “  Lazarus  !  come  forth  !  ”  Here,  it  may  be, 
Martha  and  Mary,  and  the  friends  and  neighbours  who 
had  come  to  console  them,  had  seen  the  eyes  and  cheeks 
of  the  Holy  One  wet  with  tears  of  love  for  His  friend, 
and  of  grief  over  the  reign  of  sin  and  death  in  so  fair  a 
world. 

Bethany,  “  the  house  of  poverty/’  or  as  it  is  now 
called,  El  Azariyeli,  a  corruption  from  “  Lazarus,”  3  lies  on 
one  of  the  eastern  spurs  of  the  Mount  of  Olives.  Its  New 
Testament  name  may  have  risen  from  its  being  on  the 
borders  of  the  Wilderness  of  Judaea,  though  it  is  itself 
surrounded  by  gardens  and  orchards  on  a  small  scale ;  or, 
with  more  probability,  from  its  having  been  a  place  fre¬ 
quented  by  lepers,  who  were  popularly  called  “  the  poor;  ” 
the  case  of  Simon  the  leper,  who  lived  here,  showing  that 
it  was  a  refuge  for  his  unfortunate  class,4  who  were  per¬ 
mitted  by  the  rabbis  to  live  in  open  villages  like  Bethany, 
though  they  could  not  remain  within  the  gates  of  walled 
towns  or  cities. 5  Some  have  thought  the  word  means 
“house  of  dates,”  hut,  as  it  seems  to  me,  on  insufficient 
grounds,  for  the  root  from  which  this  derivation  is  sought 
means,  at  best,  only  “  unripe  dates,”  6  and  the  palm  is  as 
unfruitful  at  Bethany  as  in  other  parts  of  the  hill  country 
of  Judaea.  Over  the  highest  part  of  the  village  rise  the 

1  John  xi.  30 — 31.  2  John  xi.  18 — 20. 

3  The  “  L  ”  has  been  taken  as  an  article  by  the  Arabs. 

4  Mark  xiv.  3.  6  Delitzsch,  Burch  Krankheit ,  p.  60. 

6  Buxtorff ’s  Lex.,  p.  38. 


XXVI.] 


JERUSALEM  AND  BETHANY. 


43 


fragments  of  a  tower  built  by  the  famous  Queen  Millicent, 
wife  of  Fulke,  fourth  king  of  Jerusalem,  to  protect  a 
cloister  of  black  nuns  which  she  founded  in  Bethany  in 
a.d.  1138,  beside  the  then  existing  church  of  St.  Lazarus. 
The  village  consists  now  of  about  forty  flat-roofed  mud 
hovels,  unspeakably  wretched  in  their  squalor,  and  the 
population  is  exclusively  Mahommedan.  The  children,  half 
naked,  and  miserably  dirty,  ran  about  us  begging.  There 
is  excellent  water,  which  enables  the  poor  creatures  to 
grow  numerous  fig,  olive,  almond,  and  carob  trees,  in  little 
orchards  enclosed  within  loose  wTalls,  built  of  the  stones 
cleared  off  the  soil  within,  and  running  up  and  across  the 
stony  slope.  Naturally,  a  “  tomb  of  Lazarus  ”  is  shown, 
to  which  one  descends  by  no  fewer  than  twenty-six  steps, 
only  to  find  a  poor  chamber,  which  is  very  unlike  a  Jewish 
tomb.  A  church  was  built  over  the  spot  as  early  as 
the  fifth  century.  The  so-called  site  of  the  house  of 
Martha  and  Mary  is  also  pointed  out ;  but  as  their  home 
has  been  assigned  to  many  different  places  at  different 
times,  no  value  whatever  is  to  be  set  upon  the  claim. 
Nothing  certain,  in  fact,  is  known,  except  that  our  Lord 
must  have  gone  to  and  from  Jericho  by  way  of  this 
village. 

In  this  sequestered  spot,  on  the  edge  of  the  wilderness, 
our  Saviour  spent  many  peaceful  hours.  Surrounded  and 
tended  by  deep  and  faithful  love,  He  often  refreshed  Him¬ 
self  here,  after  His  weary  and  disturbing  conflicts  with 
the  pettiness  and  bigotry  of  the  orthodox  theologians  of 
His  people  in  Jerusalem.  At  home  in  the  bosom  of  one 
of  its  families,  and  well  known  in  the  hamlets  around,  He 
could  send  His  disciples  before  Him,  without  pre-intima¬ 
tion,  to  ask  for  the  use  of  the  ass  on  which  He  was 
about  to  ride  into  the  city. 1  Hither  He  came,  every 

1  Matt.  xxi.  2. 


44 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Char 


niglit,  in  the  last  week  of  His  life,  till  He  was  be¬ 
trayed,  taking  the  footpath,  one  may  suppose,  over  the 
top  of  Olivet,  rather  than  the  camel  road  round  its  south 
slope,  by  which  I  had  ridden.  He  had  no  such  true 
friends  in  Jerusalem  as  those  on  this  spot.  Bethany 
remains  for  ever  sacred  as  the  home  of  tender  ideal  friend¬ 
ship,  realised  in  that  of  Martha  and  Mary  for  our  Lord. 
One  could  linger,  even  amidst  its  present  misery,  to  drink 
in  the  landscape  around,  on  which  the  eyes  of  the  Redeemer 
must  so  often  have  rested, — the  blossoming  trees  round  the 
huts ;  the  green  hollow,  near  at  hand,  below  ;  the  reddish- 
brown  slopes  of  the  Mount  of  Olives  behind,  and,  on  the 
south-east,  as  one  looks  over  a  large  tract  of  olive-trees 
helow,  the  table -land  of  the  Moab  hills,  pink  and  grey, 
beyond  the  Dead  Sea ;  the  rough,  barren,  brown  waste  of 
slopes  and  peaks  of  the  wilderness  of  Judaea  ;  the  flat- 
topped  cone  of  the  Drank  Mountain,  and  the  pink  hills  of 
Quarantania,  far  down  in  the  depression  towards  Jericho. 

Up  from  that  dejith  of  nearly  3,000  feet  below 
Bethany  joyous  multitudes  of  Galilean  pilgrims,  journey¬ 
ing  to  the  Deast,  came,  and  accompanied  the  Saviour  on 
His  last  ascent  to  Jerusalem.  Joy  filled  all  hearts 
but  His,  for  not  only  was  the  Passover  at-  hand,  but  as 
Galileans  they  were  proud  of  “  Jesus  the  prophet,”  from 
their  own  Galilean  town  of  Nazareth,  and  were  ready  to 
hail  Him  as  the  long-expected  Messiah.  On  His  side,  it 
was  becoming  that  now,  on  the  eve  of  His  self-sacrifice, 
He  should  solemnly  assume  the  headship  of  the  new  king¬ 
dom  of  God,  soon  to  be  founded  by  His  atoning  death, 
and  by  a  formal  act,  clearly  understood  when  men  came 
to  reflect,  claim  the  mysterious  dignity  of  the  Christ,  or 
Anointed,  of  God.  From  Beth  an y,  therefore,  with  its 
heights  of  wild  uplands  over  it  and  the  long  ridge  of 
Olivet  shutting  out  the  troubles  of  the  tumultuous  city 


XXVI.]  JERUSALEM  AND  BETHANY.  45 

on  its  western  side,  He  set  forth,  on  the  opening  morning 
of  His  Passion  Week,  after  resting  the  night  before  in 
the  peaceful  cottage  of  IPis  friends.  The  road  He  took 
wras  undoubtedly  that  by  which  I  had  come ;  the  creature 
He  rode,  an  ass,  the  symbol  of  early  Jewish  royalty, 
and  then  even  more  the  usual  creature  for  riding  than 
now,  though  it  is  still  used  by  all  ranks.  “  Two  streams 
of  people  met  as  He  advanced.  1 2  The  one  poured  out 
from  the  city,  and  as  they  came  through  the  gardens, 
whose  clusters  of  palms  rose  on  the  south-eastern  corner 
of  Olivet,  they  cut  down  the  long  branches,  as  was  their 
wont  at  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles,  and  moved  upwards 
towards  Bethany,  with  loud  shouts  of  welcome.  From 
Bethany  streamed  forth  the  crowds  who  had  assembled 
there  on  the  previous  night,  and  who  came  testifying  to 
the  great  event  at  the  sepulchre  of  Lazarus.3  The  road 
soon  loses  sight  of  Bethany.  It  is  now  a  rough  but 
still  broad  and  well-defined  mountain  track,  winding  over 
rock  and  loose  stones ;  a  steep  declivity  below,  on  the 
left  •  the  sloping  shoulder  of  Olivet  above  it,  on  the  right ; 
fig-trees,  below  and  above,  here  and  there  growing  out  of 
the  rocky  soil.  Along  the  road  the  multitudes  threw 
down  the  branches  which  they  cut  as  they  went  along,  or 
spread  out  a  rude  matting,  formed  of  the  palm  branches 
they  had  already  cut  as  they  came  out.  The  larger  por¬ 
tion — those,  perhaps,  who  escorted  Him  from  Bethany — 
unwrapped  their  loose  cloaks  from  their  shoulders,  and 
stretched  them  along  the  rough  path,  to  form  a  momentary 
carpet  as  He  approached.3  The  two  streams  met  midway. 
Half  of  the  vast  mass,  turning  round,  preceded  ;  the  other 
half  followed.4  Gradually,  the  long  procession  swept  up 

1  I  quote  the  exquisite  description  of  Dean  Stanley  in  Sinai  and  Pales¬ 
tine,  p.  187. 

2  John  xii.  7. 


8  Matt.  xxi.  8. 


4  Mark  xi.  8. 


46 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


and  over  the  ridge,  where  first  begins  ‘  the  descent  of 
the  Mount  of  Olives’  towards  Jerusalem.  At  this  point 
the  first  view  is  caught  of  the  south-eastern  corner  of  the 
city.  The  Temple  and  the  more  northern  portions  are  hid 
by  the  slope  of  Olivet  on  the  right ;  what  is  seen  is  only 
Mount  Zion,  now,  for  the  most  part,  a  rough  field,  crowned 
with  the  Mosque  of  David,  and  the  angle  of  the  western 
walls,  but  then  covered  with  houses  to  its  base,  sur¬ 
mounted  by  the  Castle  of  Herod,  on  the  supposed  site  of 
the  Palace  of  David,  from  which  that  portion  of  Jerusalem, 
emphatically  ‘  The  City  of  David/  derived  its  name.  It 
was  at  this  precise  point,  ‘  as  He  drew  near,  at  the  descent 
of  the  Mount  of  Olives  ’  1  (may  it  not  have  been  from 
the  sight  thus  opening  upon  them  ?)  that  the  shout  of 
triumph  burst  forth  from  the  multitude,  ‘  Hosanna  to  the 
Son  of  David  !  Blessed  is  He  that  cometh  in  the  name  of 
the  Lord.  Blessed  is  the  Kingdom  that  cometh  of  our 
father  David.  Hosanna — peace — glory  in  the  highest  /  2 
There  was  a  pause,  as  the  shout  rang  through  the  long 
defile ;  and  as  the  Pharisees  who  stood  by  in  the  crowd 
complained,3  He  pointed  to  the  stones  which,  strewn  be¬ 
neath  their  feet,  would  immediately  ‘  cry  out  ’  if  ‘  these 
held  their  peace/ 

“  Again  the  procession  advanced.  The  road  descends 
a  slight  declivity,  and  the  glimpse  of  the  city  is  again 
withdrawn  behind  the  intervening  ridge  of  Olivet.  A  few 
moments,  and  the  path  mounts  again,  it  climbs  a  rugged 
ascent,  it  reaches  a  ledge  of  smooth  rock,  and,  in  an  instant, 
the  whole  city  bursts  into  view.  As  now  the  Mosque  of 
El  Aksa  rises,  like  a  ghost,  from  the  earth,  before  the 
traveller  stands  on  the  ledge,  so  then  must  have  risen 

1  Luke  xix.  37. 

2  Matt.  xxi.  9  ;  Mark  xi.  9  ;  J ohn  xii.  13  ;  Luke  xix.  37. 

3  Luke  xix.  39. 


XXVI.] 


JERUSALEM  AND  BETHANY. 


47 


tlie  Temple  tower ;  as  now  tlie  vast  enclosure  of  tlie 
Mussulman  sanctuary,  so  then  must  have  spread  the 
Temple  courts  ;  as  now  the  grey  city  on  its  broken  hills, 
so  then  the  magnificent  city,  with  its  background — long 
since  vanished  away  —  of  gardens  and  suburbs  on  the 
western  plateau  behind.  Immediately  below  was  the  valley 
of  the  Kedron,  here  seen  in  its  greatest  depth,  as  it  joins 
the  Valley  of  Hinnom,  and  thus  giving  full  effect  to  the 
great  peculiarity  of  Jerusalem,  seen  only  on  its  eastern 
side — its  situation  as  of  a  city  rising  out  of  a  deep  abyss. 
It  is  hardly  possible  to  doubt  that  this  rise  and  turn  of 
the  road — this  rocky  ledge — was  the  exact  point  where 
the  multitude  paused  again,  and  He,  when  He  beheld  the 
city,  wept  over  it.” 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 


STILL  ROUND  JERUSALEM. 

As  I  returned  from  Bethany  I  left  the  mountain  road  at 
this  point  and  guided  my  beast  down  the  steep  bridle 
path  that  leads  to  the  village  of  Siloam,  reaching  the 
valley  at  the  north  end  of  it,  after  a  descent  in  some 
parts  steep  and  unpleasant.  The  position  of  the  Potters’ 
Gate,  to  which  Jeremiah  “  went  down  ”  from  his  house  on 
Mount  Zion,1  and  saw  “  the  vessel  marred  in  the  hand 
of  the  potter,”  and  where,  after  this,  he  bought  a  potter’s 
earthen  bottle,  has  been  thought  by  some  to  have 
been  over  against  Siloam,  the  water  of  which  was  favour¬ 
able  to  the  trades  of  potters,  tanners,  and  fullers,  and  has 
attracted  them  to  this  spot  in  almost  all  ages.  In  our 
version,  the  gate  is  called  the  “  eastern,”  but  it  ought  to 
he  “  the  potsherd  ”  or  “  Potters’  Gate.”  There  appears, 
however,  to  have  once  been  a  gate  at  the  south-west  of 
the  city,  near  the  Sultan’s  Pool,  and  it  is  striking  to  find 
that  the  heaps  of  rubbish  in  that  part,  below  the  walls, 
consist  largely  of  fragments  of  very  ancient  pottery,  as 
if  thrown  out  in  early  ages  at  the  gate  where  the  potters 
had  their  works. 

It  is  very  interesting  to  watch  the  art  of  these  clever 
craftsmen  in  any  of  the  citiesof  the  East.  I  have  stood 
beside  them  in  Asia  Minor,  in  Cairo,  and  in  different 


Jer.  xviii.  2  ;  xix.  1. 


Chap.  XXVII.] 


STILL  ROUND  JERUSALEM. 


49 


towns  of  Palestine,  and  have  never  wearied  of  noticing  the 
illustrations  of  Scripture  metaphors  and  language  they 
unconsciously  supplied.  Nothing  could  he  more  rude  than 
their  workshops :  indeed,  no  stable  in  England  is  half  so 
wretched  as  some  of  them.  A  coarse  wooden  bench, 
behind  which  the  potter  sits  at  his  wheel — a  thick  disc 
of  wood,  from  the  centre  of  which  stands  up  an  axle, 
surmounted  by  another  small  disc ;  both  turning  horizon¬ 
tally  when  the  lower  one  is  put  into  swift  revolution  by 
the  foot.  On  the  upper  wooden  circle  he  throws  down 
from  a  heap  lying  on  his  bench  a  lump  of  clay  duly 
softened  beforehand;  the  circle  is  made  to  spin  round; 
he  shapes  the  clay  into  a  low  sugarloaf  cone  with  both 
hands,  makes  a  hole  in  the  top  of  the  whirling  mass  with 
his  thumb,  and^opens  it  till  he  can  put  his  left  hand  in¬ 
side  ;  sprinkles  it,  as  needed,  with  water,  from  a  vessel 
beside  him;  a  small  piece  of  wood  in  his  right  hand  smooth¬ 
ing  the  outside  as  it  turns,  while  the  other  hand  smooths 
and  shapes  the  inside  :  both  hands  assisting  to  give  what¬ 
ever  shape  is  desired  to  the  whole.  One  is  reminded  of 
the  words  of  Jeremiah,  as  he  looks  on,  “  0  house  of  Israel, 
cannot  I  do  with  you  as  the  potter  ?  saitli  the  Lord. 

Behold,  as  the  clay  is  in  the  potter’s  hands,  so  are  ye  in  ^ 

my  hand,  0  house  of  Israel.”  1  Often,  from  some  defect 
in  the  lump,  or  from  some  misadventure,  there  is  a  failure  : 
the  clay  has  been  made  too  thin,  or  there  is  some  other 
fault.  The  vessel  is  then  abruptly  marred,  by  squeezing  the 
mass  together  again  into  a  cone  ;  and  beginning  afresh,  the 
potter  makes  it,  perhaps,  into  something  quite  different. 

So  it  was  in  the  case  of  the  prophet.  “  The  vessel  that 
he  made  of  clay  was  marred  in  the  hand  of  the  potter ;  so 
he  made  it  again  another  vessel,  as  seemed  good  to  the 
potter  to  make  it.” 2  It  is  to  this  that  Isaiah  also 

1  Jer.  xviii.  6.  2  Jer.  xviii.  4. 

e 


50  THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE.  [Chap. 

refers,  when  he  asks,  “  Shall  the  clay  say  to  him  that 
fashioneth  it,  What  raakest  thou  ?  or  thy  work,  He  hath 
no  hands  ?  ” 1  So,  also,  St.  Paul  demands,  “  Shall  the  thing 
formed  say  to  him  that  formed  it,  Why  hast  thou  made 
me  thus  ?  Hath  not  the  potter  power  over  the  clay,  of 
the  same  lump  to  make  one  vessel  unto  honour,  and 
another  unto  dishonour?  ”2 

The  pottery  of  the  East,  as  I  have  before  remarked,  is 
amazingly  brittle,  even  when  the  vessel  is  large  and  seems 
strong.  None  of  it  is  now  glazed,  for  the  art  of  glazing 
appears  to  he  lost  among  Eastern  potters,  and  this  may 
increase  its  fragility.  No  one  who  has  speculated  in  deli¬ 
cate  cups  or  bottles,  or  small  jars  of  red  or  black  clay,  at 
any  great  pottery  centre  in  Syria  or  Palestine,  can  have 
failed  to  realise  how  readily  it  goes  to  pieces.  I  have  be¬ 
fore  remarked  that  a  momentary  forgetfulness  in  putting 
it  down  too  quickly,  frequently  causes  “  the  pitcher  to  be 
broken  at  the  fountain,”3  so  that  the  poor  peasant  girl 
who  came  to  draw  water  has  to  go  disconsolate  home, 
without  her  supply.  There  is  much  greater  force,  there¬ 
fore,  in  Isaiah’s  words  than  there  would  be  if  Eastern 
pottery  were  as  strong  as  ours,  when  he  threatens  Judah 
that  God  “  shall  break  it  as  the  breaking  of  the  potter’s 
vessel  that  is  broken  in  pieces  :  He  shall  not  spare,  so  that 
there  shall  not  be  found  in  the  bursting  of  it  a  sherd  to 
take  fire  from  the  hearth,  or  to  take  water  withal  out  of 
the  pit.”4  Even  the  largest  jar  is  broken  into  pieces  by 
a  comparatively  slight  blow,  and  hence,  when  destruc¬ 
tion  is  intentional,  the  ruin  is  very  complete.  The 
image  of  the  Psalmist  is  thus  very  terrible  when  he  says 
that  the  Lord  will  “  dash  his  enemies  in  pieces  like  a 
potter’s  vessel.”5  Wherever  an  Oriental  turns,  he  can 

1  Isa.  xlv.  9  ;  xxix.  16.  2  Rom.  ix.  20,  21.  3  Eccles.  xii.  6. 

4  Isa.  xxx.  14.  6  Ps.  ii.  9. 


XXVII.] 


STILL  ROUND  JERUSALEM. 


51 


lealise  this  as  we  cannot.  The  ground  about  ancient 
Memphis,  as  I  have  said,  is  largely  composed  of  bits  of 
pottery,  and  the  quantity  round  some  of  the  ruined  cities 
of  Bashan  is  equally  wonderful.  It  might  be  raked  out 
in  heaps  from  many  of  the  mounds,  in  different  parts  of 
the  country,  on  which  towns  or  villages  formerly  stood. 
Wherever  deep  excavations  are  made  round  any  city,  the 
wreck  of  its  past  is  found  to  consist,  in  great  part,  of 
broken  pottery.  Still,  when  accident  has  caused  the 
breaking  of  a  large  vessel,  there  are  naturally  some  frag¬ 
ments  comparatively  large,  and  these  are  still  of  some  use. 
A  hollow  piece  serves  as  a  cup  in  which  to  lift  water  from 
the  spring,  either  to  drink  or  to  fill  a  jar.  But  Judah  is  to 
be  destroyed  so  utterly  that  it  will  be  like  the  wreck  of  a 
potter’s  vessel,  of  which  no  sherd  is  left  for  this  humble 
use.  Nothing  is  more  common,  moreover,  than  for  neigh¬ 
bours  to  borrow  a  few  lighted  coals  in  a  hollow  potsherd 
from  each  other,  to  kindle  their  fire,  or  for  a  poor  man  to 
come,  in  the  evening,  to  the  baker’s  oven  with  his  lowly 
fire-pan  and  get  from  it  a  few  glowing  embers,  to  boil 
his  tin  of  coffee,  or  heat  his  simple  food.  But  Judah 
would  perish  so  completely  that  it  would  be  like  the 
shivered  atoms  of  a  vessel  no  piece  of  which  could  “take 
fire  from  the  hearth.”  Jeremiah’s  symbolical  acts,  how¬ 
ever,  gain  still  another  illustration  from  Eastern  habits. 
He  was  commanded  “to  go  forth  into  the  Valley  of 
Hinnom,  which  is  by  the  entry  of  the  Potters’  Gate,”  and 
break  the  bottle  in  the  sight  of  the  men  that  went  with 
him,  and  say,  “  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  Even  so 
will  I  break  this  people  and  this  city,  as  one  breaketh  a 
potter’s  vessel,  that  cannot  be  made  whole  again.”1  The 
unchanging  East  would  understand  this  to-day  as  vividly 
as  in  the  time  of  the  prophet,  for  it  is  still  the  custom  to 

1  Jer.  xix.  2,  10,  11. 


52 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap, 


dash  down  a  piece  of  pottery  when  one  desires  to  show  the 
min  he  wishes  to  overtake  the  object  of  his  fierce  anger. 
Running  up  to  him,  he  hurls  it  to  the  ground,  as  a 
scenic  imprecation  of  like  ruin  on  him  and  his. 

The  ride  up  the  slope  of  Moriah,  over  the  hundred  feet 
of  rubbish  under  which  the  natural  rock  is  buried,  is  by 
a  bridle  path,  in  places  uncomfortably  steep,  but  you  get 
to  the  top  at  last,  near  the  south-east  corner  of  the  Temple 
area.  Riding  slowly  along  to  St.  Stephen’s  Gate,  one  is 
greatly  impressed  by  the  size  of  the  stones  and  the 
strength  of  the  wall.  It  is  from  ten  to  fifteen  feet  thick, 
and  about  forty  feet  high  at  this  place,  though,  at  others, 
where  the  rock  is  high,  it  is  only  twenty-five  feet  above  it. 
This  eastern  side  is  especially  venerable  ;  rows  of  immense 
stones,  beautifully  cut  and  set,  running  along  a  short 
distance  above  the  ground,  and,  of  course,  for  a  great 
depth  below  it.  The  effect  of  the  walls  altogether,  as 
they  now  stand,  is  very  picturesque.  To  form  a  con¬ 
ception  of  the  appearance  of  Jerusalem,  seen  from  without, 
one  has  to  imagine  a  circuit  of  nearly  two  and  a  half  miles 
of  fortifications,  yellow  with  age,  and  looking  stronger, 
perhaps,  than  in  a  military  sense  they  really  are ;  their 
outline  broken  by  salient  angles  and  square  towers,  sur¬ 
mounted  by  battlements  and  pierced  with  loopholes. 

North  of  the  city  are  some  grand  old  tombs,  which 
interested  me  greatly.  The  most  famous  of  these,  known 
popularly  as  the  Tombs  of  the  Kings,  lie  about  half  a 
mile  straight  north  from  the  Damascus  Gate,  past  the  great 
northern  olive-grove,  a  few  yards  east  of  the  road  to 
Nablus,  the  ancient  Shechem.  The  rocks  in  the  valley 
leading  to  them  are  full  of  ordinary  sepulchres.  A 
slope,  thirty-two  feet  wide,  cut  in  the  solid  rock,  leads 
down  eighteen  feet  to  a  great  court,  also  hewn  out  of  the 
rock  to  the  size  of  more  than  ninety  feet  long  and  nearly 


XXVII.] 


STILL  ROUND  JERUSALEM. 


53 


ninety  feet  broad.1  Originally,  the  floor  of  tbis  great 
excavation  must  have  been  considerably  lower,  as  there  is 
a  deep  bed  of  rubbish  over  it.  The  sides  are  perpendicular, 
and  hewn  smooth.  Before  reaching  the  incline,  however, 
to  enter  this  great  open  hall,  as  I  may  call  it,  you  go 
down  a  flight  of  broad,  high  steps,  cut  in  the  rock,  and 
pass  across  a  large,  square  ante- chamber,  between  which 
and  the  great  hall  below,  the  rock  has  been  left  four  and  a 
half  feet  thick,  to  serve  as  a  wall,  where  not  cut  away  to 
allow  of  the  incline.  As  you  turn  to  the  west,  the  portico 
of  the  tombs  faces  you — a  chamber  thirty-nine  feet  long, 
seventeen  wide,  and  fifteen  high,  with  a  richly  ornamented 
front,  once  adorned  with  four  pillars,  two  of  which  are 
gone,  while  the  other  two  are  broken  down.  The  rock 
above  is  beautifully  sculptured  in  the  later  Bo  man  style, 
with  wreaths,  fruit,  and  foliage,  which  extend  quite  across 
the  whole  breadth  of  nearly  thirty  feet,  and  hang  down 
the  sides.  The  entrance  to  the  tombs  is  on  the  south  side 
of  this  portico,  and  was  intensely  interesting  from  the 
fact  that  beside  the  entrance  stood  a  great  round  stone, 
which  was  intended  to  be  rolled  forward,  as  a  door,  to 
close  it ;  such  a  stone  as  might  have  been  “  rolled  away 
from  the  door  of  the  sepulchre.”2  Lighting  candles  and 
going  inside,  we  found  that  one  chamber  led  to  another — 
four  in  all,  each  branching  off  into  numerous  tombs,  so 
that  there  is  space,  in  the  whole,  for  a  large  number  of 
burials  ;  the  excavations  extending  about  seventy-five  feet 
from  north  to  south,  and  fifty  from  east  to  west,  all  in 
the  depth  of  the  hill  and  independent  of  the  great  outer 
courts.  Mr.  Fergusson3  thinks  that  this  wonderful  mau¬ 
soleum  was  that  of  Herod  the  Great,  contraiy  to  the 
generally  accepted  belief  that  he  was  buried  at  the  Frank 

1  92f  by  87,  Robiiiaon’s  measurement.  2  Mark  xvi.  3. 

3  Diet,  of  the  Bible  :  art.  “  Tombs.” 


54 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


Mountain ;  but  it  seems  more  probable  tbat  it  is  tbe 
tomb  of  Queen  Helena  of  Adiabene,  which,  according  to 
Josephus,  was  situated  here.  Having  embraced  Judaism 
in  her  own  country,  a  province  of  what  had  been  the 
original  kingdom  of  Assyria,  she  came  to  Jerusalem  in 
a.d.  48,  with  her  son  Izates,  after  the  death  of  her 
husband.  Ultimately  returning  home,  her  body  was 
brought  back  to  Jerusalem  for  burial.  The  fact  that 
Izates  had  twenty-four  sons  perhaps  accounts  for  the 
extent  of  the  tomb. 

About  a  mile  to  the  north-west  of  this  wonderful 
burial-place  are  the  traditional  Tombs  of  the  Judges,  the 
true  history  of  which  is  quite  unknown  :  the  name  having 
been  given,  apparently,  from  the  fact  that  the  number  of 
receptacles  for  bodies  corresponds  roughly  with  the  reputed 
number  of  those  composing  the  so-called  Great  Synagogue, 
which  is  said  to  have  consisted  of  seventy  members,  though 
its  ever  having  existed  at  all  is  now  called  in  question.  The 
tombs  have  at  least  an  historical  value,  besides  being  inter¬ 
esting  in  themselves,  as  showing  the  wealth  and  prosperity 
of  Jerusalem  before  it  finally  rose  against  Home.  As  in 
the  tomb  of  Helena,  there  is  a  portico  in  front  of  them, 
but  the  ornamentation  is  quite  different.  From  this 
porch  a  door  opens  into  a  chamber  about  twenty  feet  long 
and  eight  high,  cut  in  the  rock ;  its  sides  hewn  into 
receptacles  for  the  dead,  one  over  the  other,  while  side 
openings  lead  to  other  chambers,  the  walls  of  which  are 
hollowed  into  narrow,  deep  recesses,  into  which  bodies 
could  be  thrust,  with  the  feet  pointing,  from  all  sides,  to 
the  central  open  space.  There  are  three  entrances,  all 
from  the  west,  to  three  different  tombs,  which,  in  all, 
provide  places  for  about  sixty  corpses. 

Another  striking  tomb  lies  in  the  rocks  east  of  the 
Nablus  road,  some  distance  from  the  Tombs  of  the 


XXVII.] 


STILL  ROUND  JERUSALEM. 


55 


Judges,  which,  by  the  way,  are  called  by  the  Jews  “  The 
Tomb  of  the  Seventy,”  for  the  reason  mentioned  in 
the  previous  paragraph.  This  other  tomb  is  held  in  still 
greater  honour  as  the  traditional  resting-place  of  Simon 
the  Just,  one  of  the  most  famous  successors  of  Ezra, 
and  high  priest  for  forty  years ;  a  greatly  venerated 
Jewish  worthy,  whose  praise  is  the  subject  of  a  beautiful 
passage  of  Jesus  the  son  of  Sirach :  “  Simon,  the  high 
priest,  the  son  of  Onias,  in  his  life  fortified  the  house  of 
the  Lord,  and  in  his  days  repaired  the  Temple.  By  him 
was  the  foundation  wall  of  the  Temple  raised  to  double  its 
former  height,  and  the  lofty  rampart  of  the  wall  restored 
round  it.  In  his  days  the  cistern  was  hewn  out,  which  in 
its  size  was  like  the  brazen  sea.  He  cared  for  the  people, 
to  keep  them  from  calamity,  and  fortified  the  city  with  a 
wall. 

“  How  gloriously  did  he  shine  forth  when  the  people 
wrere  round  him,  when  he  came  forth  from  behind  the 
curtain  of  the  Holy  of  Holies  !  He  was  like  the  morning 
star  shining  through  the  clouds  ;  like  the  moon  at  the 
full !  As  the  sun  shines  back  from  the  Temple  of  the 
Most  High,  as  the  glorious  rainbow  shines  between  the 
showers  !  As  the  blooming  rose  in  the  days  of  spring,  as 
lilies  beside  the  springs  of  water,  as  the  branches  of  the 
frankincense-tree  in  the  days  of  summer,  as  glowing 
incense  in  the  censer,  as  a  vessel  of  beaten  gold,  set  with 
all  manner  of  precious  stones,  as  a  fair  olive-tree  budding 
forth  fruit,  and  as  a  cypress-tree  growing  up  even  to  the 
clouds  !  ”1 

The  tomb  is  cut  into  the  rock,  but  a  wall  has  been 
built  in  recent  times  across  the  entrance  to  the  porch,  an 
iron  door,  however,  with  a  small  barred  window  at  the  side 
of  it,  giving  access.  The  front  of  the  tomb  is  carefully 

*  Ecclus.  1.  1-10.  The  English  ve.sion  is  amended  in  this  quotation. 


56 


TIIE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


whitewashed,  just  as,  in  old  times,  the  sepulchres  were 
“whited,”1  to  prevent  passers-by  coming  near  them  and 
being  defiled.  Anyone  who  was  thus  rendered  unclean 
had  to  remain  so  for  seven  days,  and  had  to  go  through  a 
tedious  and  expensive  purification,  while,  if  it  happened  as 
he  was  going  up  to  a  feast,  it  disqualified  him  from  taking 
part  in  it.2  Nor  was  this  all :  to  refuse  to  purify  oneself 
was  followed  by  being  “  cut  off  from  Israel.”  The  Jews 
with  their  children  visit  this  reputed  tomb  of  Simon  on 
the  thirty -third  day  after  the  Passover — a  day  sacred  to  his 
memory,  and  when  inside,  light  wicks  which  float  in  a  basin 
of  oil,  in  honour  of  him.  Charity  is  dispensed  by  them 
on  this  occasion  in  a  strange  way.  Many  cut  or  shave 
off  part  of  their  hair  and  of  that  of  their  children,  or  even 
the  whole  of  it,  and  give  away  as  much  silver  as  the  hair 
weighs  !  The  origin  of  this  strange  custom  I  do  not 
know,  but  it  is  always  connected  with  a  vow.  Like 
everything  Jewish,  it  is  very  ancient,  since  Paul  is  men¬ 
tioned  as  “  having  shorn  his  head  in  Cenclirea  :  for  he 
had  made  a  vow ;  ” 3  and  the  four  men  in  Jerusalem 
mentioned  in  the  Acts  as  having  a  vow  were  required, 
as  part  of  it,  to  shave  their  heads.4  Perhaps  the  prac¬ 
tice  arose  from  some  association  with  the  vow  of  the 
Nazarites,  who  were  required  to  shave  their  heads  if 
they  came  near  a  dead  body.5  This  would  account  for 
the  usage  in  those  who  visit  the  tomb  of  Simon,  hut, 
of  course,  it  does  not  explain  it  in  the  cases  quoted  in 
the  Acts. 

Lying  2,500  feet  above  the  sea,  Jerusalem  has  a 
climate  in  some  respects  very  different  from  what  might 
he  expected  so  far  to  the  south,  but  characteristic,  more 
or  less,  of  the  whole  of  the  ancient  territory  of  Israel 

1  Matt,  xxiii.  27.  2  Num.  xix.  11.  3  Acts  xviii.  13. 

4  Acts  xxi.  23,  21.  5  Num.  vi.  6,  9,  18. 


XXVII.] 


STILL  HOUND  JERUSALEM. 


57 


west  of  tlie  Jordan,  from  the  fact  that  it,  too,  lay  high 
above  the  sea-level. 

Rain  is  mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament  more  than 
ninety, times,  but  incidental  notices  show  that  the  seasons 
in  their  vicissitudes  of  moisture  and  dryness  have  been 
the  same  in  all  ages.  It  is  still  as  rare  as  in  the  days  of 
Samuel  that  there  should  be  thunder  and  rain  in  the  wheat 
harvest,  and  the  occurrence  would  be  as  disturbing  to  the 
minds  of  the  peasants  now  as  when  the  great  prophet  fore¬ 
told  it.1  It  would,  moreover,  be  as  appalling  a  calamity  in 
our  day  as  it  was  in  that  of  Aliab,  that  there  should  be  no 
dew  nor  rain  during  three  years  and  a  half.2  Great  storms  of 
wind  and  rain,  like  that  through  which  Elijah  ran  before 
the  chariot  of  the  king  to  Jezreel,3  still  burst  on  the 
land  in  the  rainy  season,  and  those  who  have  then  to 
be  abroad  may  sometimes  be  seen,  in  their  cotton  clothes, 
“  trembling  for  the  great  rain  ”  like  the  people  gathered 
to  hear  the  law  in  the  days  of  Ezra.4 

One  half  of  the  year,  in  Palestine,  is  well-nigh  cloud¬ 
less  sunshine ;  the  other  half  is  more  or  less  rainy ; 
the  result  of  observations  continued  for  twenty-two 
years 5  showing  that  the  average  number  of  days  on 
which  rain  falls  in  the  moist  season  is  188;  exactly, 
one  may  say,  half  of  the  805  days  of  the  whole  year. 
In  some  years,  however,  wet  days  may  be  comparatively 
few,  while  in  others  there  may  be  even  a  hundred  more  than 
this  minimum.  It  does  not  rain  every  day  for  any  length 
of  time,  in  any  part  of  the  year,  intervals  of  fine  weather 
occurring,  with  rare  exceptions,  after  a  day  or  two  of 
moisture.  Whole  weeks,  indeed,  may  pass  without  a 
shower  at  the  time  when  rains  are  most  expected,  and 

1  1  Sam.  xii.  18.  3  1  Kings  xviii.  45,  46. 

3  1  Kings  xvii.  1 ;  Jamos  v.  17.  4  Ezra  x.  9. 

6  Pal.  Explor.  Fund  Report,  1883,  p.  8  if. 


58 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


these  bright  days  or  weeks,  in  winter  and  early  spring,  are 
among  the  most  delightful  in  the  year.  There  are,  never¬ 
theless,  continuous  periods  of  rain,  but  they  seldom  last 
more  than  seven  or  eight  days,  though  in  rare  cases  it  rains 
and  snows  for  thirteen  or  fourteen  days  together.  The  rainy 
season,  as  I  have  had  occasion  to  say  elsewhere,  divides  it¬ 
self  into  three  stages  :  first,  the  early  rain,  which  moistens 
the  land  after  the  heat  of  summer,  and  fits  it  for  plough¬ 
ing  and  sowing  ;  then,  the  abundant  winter  rains,  which 
soak  the  ground,  fill  the  pools  and  cisterns,  and  replenish 
the  springs  ;  and  last  of  all,  the  latter,  or  spring  rain,  which 
swells  the  growing  ears,  and  pours  a  supply  of  moisture 
down  to  their  roots,  enabling  them  to  withstand  the  dry 
heat  of  summer.  Between  each  of  these  rains,  however, 
there  is  a  bright  and  joyful  interval,  often  of  considerable 
length,  so  that  in  some  years  one  may  travel  over  all  the 
land  in  February  or  March  without  suspecting  that  the 
latter  rains  have  yet  to  fall. 

Snow  covers  the  streets  of  Jerusalem  two  winters  in 
three,  but  it  generally  comes  in  small  quantities,  and 
soon  disappears.  Yet  there  are  sometimes  very  snowy 
winters.  That  of  1879,  for  example,  left  behind  it  seven¬ 
teen  inches  of  snow,  even  where  there  was  no  drift,  and 
the  strange  spectacle  of  snow  lying  unmelted  for  two 
or  three  weeks  was  seen  in  the  hollows  on  the  hill¬ 
sides.  Thousands  of  years  have  wrought  no  change  in 
this  aspect  of  the  winter  months,  for  Benaiah,  one  of 
David’ s  mighty  men,  “  slew  a  lion  in  the  midst  of  a  pit, 
in  the  time  of  snow ;  ” 1  and  it  is  noted  in  Proverbs  as 
one  of  the  virtues  of  the  good  wife  that  “  she  is  not 
afraid  of  the  snow/’2 

The  time  of  the  beginning  of  the  autumn  or  winter 
rains  is  very  uncertain,  October,  in  some  years,  being  more 

1  2  Sam.  xxiii.  20.  2  Prov.  xxxi.  21. 


XXVII.] 


STILL  ROUND  JERUSALEM. 


59 


or  less  rainy,  wliile  in  others  no  rain  falls  till  November. 
The  time  of  the  cessation  of  the  spring  or  “  latter  ” 
rains  is  equally  doubtful :  varying,  in  different  seasons, 
from  the  end  of  April  to  the  end  of  May.  There  is  some¬ 
times,  moreover,  an  interval  of  several  weeks,  occasionally 
as  many  as  five,  between  the  first  rains  of  October  and  the 
heavy  winter  rains  in  December ;  a  passing  shower  or  two 
in  the  long  succession  of  bright  days  alone  asserting  the 
rights  of  the  season.  So,  also,  the  latter  rains  sometimes 
virtually  end  in  the  middle  of  April,  with  perhaps  only 
three  or  four  rainy  days  for  a  month  or  more  afterwards, 
when  the  last  grateful  spring  shower  makes  way  for  the 
waterless  months  of  summer.  The  harvest,  of  course, 
depends  entirely  on  the  rainfall ;  but,  while  too  little 
moisture  is  fatal,  too  much  is  almost  as  hurtful.  The 
peasant  looks  forward  with  most  confidence  to  abundant 
crops  when  plentiful  winter  showers  fall  on  a  large  number 
of  days,  without  any  long  break  of  fine  weather,  and  when 
there  is  a  copious  fall  of  rain  in  spring. 

The  lowest  temperature  noticed  in  Jerusalem  during 
twenty-one  years  was  on  the  20tli  of  January,  1804,  when 
the  mercury  sank  seven  degrees  below  freezing,  but  it 
occasionally  reaches  the  freezing  point  in  February  and 
October  also,  and  once  it  did  so  even  in  April.  You 
may  count  on  five  or  six  frosty  nights  in  the  course  of  a 
winter,  but  the  sun  melts  the  thin  ice  before  noon,  except 
in  places  out  of  its  reach,  though  on  the  open  hills  the 
temperature  must  necessarily  be  lower  than  in  the  city. 
The  heat  of  a  brazier  is  hence  often  very  agreeable  during 
the  months  in  which,  after  the  heat  of  a  Palestine  sum¬ 
mer,  the  register  thus  drops  once  and  again  to  the  verge  of 
freezing,  and  for  days  together  the  air  is  most  disagree¬ 
ably  cold.  It  was  in  such  biting  weather  that  Jehoiakim 
sat  in  the  winter  house — that  part  of  the  Palace  of  David 


60 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap 


on  Zion  which  faced  south — in  the  ninth,  or  cold  month, 
Ivislew  (corresponding  nearly  to  our  December),  glad  of 
the  heat  of  a  charcoal  fire  in  a  brazier  in  the  middle 
of  the  chamber,  the  windows  of  which,  it  must  be  re¬ 
membered,  had  no  glass — when  he  cut  up  the  roll  of 
Jeremiah’s  prophecy  with  the  scribe’s  knife,  and  burnt 
it.1  It  was  in  this  cold  month,  also,  that  the  people  sat 
trembling  for  cold  in  the  great  rain,  when  gathered  at 
the  summons  of  Ezra ; 2  and  it  was  in  the  next  or  tenth 
month — our  January — that  Esther  was  first  brought  be¬ 
fore  King  Aliasuerus,  both  of  them,  no  doubt,  arrayed  in 
the  richest  winter  costume  of  Persia.3 

The  wind  plays  a  great  part  in  the  comfort  of  the 
population  in  Palestine,  and  in  the  returns  of  the  soil,  for 
the  north  wind  is  cold,  the  south  warm,  the  east  dry, 
and  the  west  moist.  Winds,  lighter  or  stronger,  from 
some  point  of  the  north  seem  to  be  the  most  common, 
for  they  blow,  perhaps  only  in  a  zephyr,  on  almost  half 
the  days  of  the  year :  4  creating  the  cold  in  winter,  but 
in  summer  bringing  chills  which  are  much  dreaded  by 
the  lightly  dressed  natives,  especially  those  of  the  mari¬ 
time  plain,  as  producing  sore  throats,  fevers,  and  dysen¬ 
teries.  “  Cold  cometli  out  of  the  north ;  ”  5  but  so  does 
“  fair  weather,”  G  for  “  the  north  wind  driveth  away  rain  :  ” 7 
a  characteristic  recognised  in  its  native  name,  “  the 
heavenly,”  apparently  from  the  glorious  blue  sky  which 
marks  it. 

A  few  calm  days  in  summer,  with  no  wind,  is  sufficient 
to  make  the  heat  very  unpleasant  in  Jerusalem.  The  air 
becomes  dry,  and  almost  as  destitute  of  ozone  as  a 


1  Jer.  xxxvi.  22,  23.  4  182  days. 

2  Ezra  x.  9.  5  Job  xxxvii.  9. 

3  Esther  ii.  16.  6  Job  xxxvii.  22. 

7  Prov.  xxv.  23. 


XXVII.] 


STILL  BOUND  JERUSALEM. 


61 


sirocco.  A  delightful  mitigation  of  this  state  of  things 
is  usually  found,  however,  in  a  strong  west  wind  from 
the  sea,  blowing  over  the  city  in  the  afternoon.  The 
Hebrews  distinguished  winds  only  as  blowing  from  the 
four  cardinal  points,  and  hence  when  we  read,  “Awake,  0 
north  wind,  and  come,  thou  south,  and  blow  upon  my 
garden,”  1  the  north-west  or  south-west  wind  is  meant, 
since  it  rarely  blows  directly  from  the  north  or  the  south. 
This  wind,  from  some  point  of  the  west,  is  felt  at  Joppa 
as  early  as  nine  or  ten  in  the  morning,  hut,  as  becomes 
the  East,  it  travels  leisurely,  reaching  Jerusalem,  generally, 
only  about  two  or  three  in  the  afternoon  ;  sometimes, 
indeed,  not  till  much  later.  Subsiding  after  sunset,  it 
soon  rises  again,  and  continues  for  most  of  the  night, 
bathing  and  renewing  the  parched  face  of  nature  with  the 
refreshing  vapours  it  has  brought  from  the  ocean,  and 
constituting  “  the  dew  ”  of  the  sacred  writings.  Should 
it  not  reach  the  hills,  as  sometimes  happens,  Jerusalem 
suffers  greatly,  but  near  the  sea  its  moist  coolness  is 
a  daily  visitor.  When  the  weather  is  very  hot  on  the 
hills,  and  this  relief  fails,  the  languor  and  oppression 
become  almost  insupportable. 

Easterly  winds  are  common  all  round  the  year,  but  are 
especially  frequent  in  the  latter  half  of  May  and  of 
October,  and  most  unusual  in  summer.  Dry,  stimulating, 
and  very  agreeable,  during  the  cold  months,  if  not  too 
strong,  they  are  dreaded  in  the  hot  months  from  their 
suffocating  heat  and  dryness,  and  from  the  haze  and  sand 
which  at  times  come  with  them.  In  the  summer  they 
are  known  as  the  sirocco, 2  which,  when  intense,  is  a 
veritable  calamity.  It  dries  the  throat,  bringing  on 
catarrh  and  bronchial  affections  ;  while  its  lack  of  ozone 
makes  one  unwilling  to  work  with  either  mind  or  body ;  it 

1  Cant.  iv.  16. 


2  Lit.  “south-east  wind.” 


62 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


creates  violent  headache  and  oppression  of  the  chest,  causes 
general  restlessness  and  depression  of  spirits,  sleepless 
nights  or  had  dreams,  thirst,  quickened  pulse,  burning 
heat  in  the  palms  of  the  hands  and  soles  of  the  feet,  and 
sometimes  even  fever.  Such  effects  are  vividly  painted  in 
the  story  of  Jonah,  whose  spirit  this  overpowering  wind 
so  utterly  broke  for  the  time  that  he  thought  it  better  to 
die  than  to  live.  1  Man  and  beast  alike  feel  weak  and 
sick  while  it  blows.  Furniture  dries  and  cracks,  paper 
curls  up,  vegetation  withers.  Though  it  is  usually  gentle, 
it  at  times  comes  in  fierce  storms,  laden  with  the  fine  sand 
of  the  eastern  or  south-eastern  desert  and  waterless  regions 
over  which  it  has  passed ;  blinding  and  paining  those 
who  encounter  it,  and  raising  the  temperature  to  over 
100°  Fahrenheit,  so  that  it  burns  the  skin  like  the  dry  air 
of  an  oven.  I  myself  have  felt  it  painfully  oppressive, 
although  I  never  had  to  endure  its  more  severe  effects. 
In  a  violent  sirocco  the  sky  is  veiled  in  yellow  obscurity, 
through  which  the  sun,  shorn  of  its  beams,  looks  like  a 
smoking  ball  of  fire,  while  dancing  pillars  of  sand  raised 
by  whirlwinds,  and  looking  from  afar  like  pillars  of  smoke, 
often  mark  it,  and  threaten  at  times  to  overwhelm  both 
man  and  beast.  The  terrible  imagery  of  the  prophet 
Joel  presents  these  phenomena  heightened  to  suit  the  great 
crisis  he  foretells,  for  the  heavens  in  such  a  storm  seem  to 
show  “blood  and  fire  and  pillars  of  smoke.”2  How  the 
east  wind  dries  up  the  springs  and  fountains ;  how  it 
withers  the  flowers,  and  turns  the  tinder-like  leaves  to 
dust,  so  that  they  disappear ;  how  it  destroys  the  bloom  of 
nature  as  with  a  fiery  stream,  and  takes  away  the  hope  of 
harvest  when  it  sweeps  over  a  field  before  the  time  of 
ripening;  how  it  scorches  the  vine}uird,  and  shrivels  the 
grape  in  the  cluster ;  and  how,  after  it  has  passed  away, 

1  Jonah  iv.  8.  2  Joel  ii.  30  ;  Acts  ii.  19. 


XXVII.] 


STILL  ROUND  JERUSALEM. 


63 


the  dew  and  rain,  at  times,  refresh  and  revivify  the  thirsty 
earth,  is  painted  by  the  Hebrew  poets  and  prophets  with 
the  force  of  personal  observation.1 

In  this  storm-wind  of  the  desert,  Israel  beheld  an 
illustration  of  the  awful  power  of  Jehovah,  and  thought 
of  it  as  the  very  “  breath ”  of  His  anger. 2  Its  swift 
and  utter  withering  of  grass  and  flowers,  so  that  they 
disappear  before  it  like  the  stubble  it  burns  up,3  is 
constantly  used  by  the  sacred  writers  to  illustrate  the 
sudden  disappearance  of  man  from  his  wonted  place, 
when  he  dies.  Recognising  in  the  sirocco  the  most 
irresistible  force  of  the  air  in  motion,  the  Israelite, 
moreover,  gave  the  name  to  any  violent  wind,  from  what¬ 
ever  quarter.  Thus,  speaking  of  the  great  ships  which 
of  old  made  a  port  of  Eziongeber,  at  the  head  of  the 
gulf  of  Akaba,4  the  Psalmist  says,  “  Thou  breakest  the 
ships  of  Tarshish  with  an  east  wind  ”  5 — though  the  storms 
that  wreck  shipping  there  come  from  the  north.  In  the 
same  way,  the  wind  which  blows  back  the  Red  Sea  at 
Suez  is  from  the  north,  but  is  called  an  east  or  sirocco 
wind  in  Exodus. 6  It  is  striking  to  notice,  from  the 
various  metaphorical  uses  of  the  phenomena  of  this  terrible 
wind,  how  closely  the  sacred  writers  watched  nature,  and 
studied  its  moral  analogies.  In  Job  passionate  violence 
of  speech  is  compared  to  a  man  filled  with  the  east  wind.7 
Ephraim  is  said  to  “  feed  on  wind  and  follow  after  the  east 
wind,”8  in  reference  to  the  lying  and  deceit  of  her  relations 
with  Egypt  and  Assyria  ;  seeking  advantages  from  them 
which,  on  the  one  hand,  would  be  empty  as  the  wind,  and, 

1  Gen.  xli.  6 — 23 ;  Ps.  ciii.  16  ;  Job  xxvii.  21  ;  Isa.  xl.  7  ;  xxvii.  8  ;  Ezek. 
xvii.  10  ;  xix.  12  ;  Hos.  xiii.  15  ;  Ecclus.  xliii.  21. 

2  Isa.  xl.  7  ;  Hos.  xiii.  15. 

3  Isa.  xl.  7  ;  Ps.  ciii.  16  ;  Job  xxi.  18  ;  Jer.  xiii.  24. 

4  1  Kings  xxii.  48,  49.  6  Ps.  xlviii.  7. 

e  xiv  21.  7  Job  xv.  2.  8  Hos.  xii.  1. 


64 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


on  the  other,  would  be  as  impossible  to  secure  as  it  would 
be  to  follow  and  overtake  the  swiftly  passing  gusts  of 
the  sirocco. 

As  I  have  said,  the  east  wind  is  rare  in  summer, 
seldom  blowing  more  than  two  or  three  days  in  a  month, 
but  it  is  much  more  frequent  in  winter,  and  then,  strangely, 
brings  with  it  cold  so  penetrating  that  the  thinly  dressed 
natives  sometimes  die  from  its  effects.  It  is  frequent  also 
in  spring,  shrivelling  up  the  young  vegetation  if  it  be  long 
continued,  and  thus  destroying  the  hope  of  a  good  year. 
No  wonder  the  people  of  Lebanon  call  it  “  the  poison 
wind.”  It  has,  indeed,  become  the  proverbial  name  for 
whatever  is  hateful  or  disagreeable.  If  a  calamity  befall 
one,  be  will  say  the  east  wind  blows  on  him.  The  corn 
on  the  threshing-floor,  though  ready  for  winnowing,  must 
lie  under  whatever  protection  can  be  heaped  over  it,  till 
the  east  wind  ceases.  The  north  wind  is  too  violent  for 
threshing,  and  the  east  wind  comes  in  gusts,  which,  as  the 
people  of  the  Hauran  say,  “  carry  away  both  corn  and 
straw.”  The  whirlwinds  which  sometimes  accompany  a 
sirocco  seem  to  rise  from  the  encounter  of  the  east  wind 
with  an  air- current  from  the  west,  and  often  scatter  the 
grain  lying  in  summer  on  the  threshing-floor  or  in  the 
swathe,  unless  it  be  kept  down  by  stones.  How  violent 
they  may  be  is  shown  by  an  extract  given  by  Wetzstein 
from  an  Arab  chronicle  : — “  On  the  third  Adar  rose  a 
storm- wind  which  broke  down  and  uprooted  trees,  tore 
down  dwellings,  and  did  incalculable  damage.  It  blew 
from  the  east,  and  lasted  about  fifteen  hours.”  1  Such  a 
“  great  wind  from  the  wilderness  smote  the  four  corners  of 
the  house  ”  in  which  Job’s  family  were  gathered,  when  it 
fell  upon  all  within. 2 

October,  November,  and  nearly  the  whole  of  December, 
1  Delitzsch,  lob,  351. 


2  Job  i.  19. 


XXVII.] 


STILL  ROUND  JERUSALEM. 


65 


are  very  mild  and  agreeable  in  Palestine,  and  any  rain 
falling  in  tliese  months  revives  the  soil,  after  the  scorch¬ 
ing  of  the  summer  heat,  and  refreshes  man  and  beast, 
creating,  in  fact,  a  temporary  spring.  The  weather  be¬ 
gins  to  be  unpleasant  about  the  end  of  December,  but 
the  winter,  with  its  cold,  storms,  rain,  and  snow,  only 
commences  in  January,  continuing,  with  fine  days  inter¬ 
spersed,  till  February,  when  bright  weather  becomes  more 
frequent,  and  sometimes  lasts  for  weeks.  About  the  end 
of  the  month,  however,  a  second  winter  begins,  with 
heavy  rains,  the  cold  and  stormy  days  and  nights  being 
keenly  felt  by  the  population,  since  their  houses  give 
little  protection  against  such  an  evil.  For  old  people, 
especially,  this  after- winter  is  particularly  dangerous,  the 
rough  weather  that  has  preceded  having  already  lessened 
their  powers  of  resistance.  It  lasts,  generally,  about  a  week, 
from  the  25th  of  February  to  the  3rd  of  March,  and  this 
interval  is  called  in  Syria  and  Palestine  “  the  death-days 
of  old  folks.”  It  closes  the  season  in  which  the  over-ripe 
fruit  is  shaken  from  the  tree  of  life,  a  time  lasting  in  all, 
one  may  say,  from  thirty-five  to  forty  days.  During  these, 
the  almond-tree  blossoms,  and  the  grasshopper  creeps  out, 
thus  apparently  giving  us  the  correct  translation  of  the 
words  in  our  version,  “  The  almond-tree  shall  flourish  and 
the  grasshopper  shall  be  a  burden.”1  The  blossoming  of 
the  almond,  however,  may  not  only  be  taken  as  marking 
the  days  most  fatal  to  old  age,  but  as  itself  a  beautiful 
emblem  of  the  end  of  life,  for  the  white  flowers  completely 
cover  the  tree,  at  the  foot  of  which  they  presently  fall 
like  a  shower  of  snow. 

1  Eccles.  xii.  5.  Welzstein  gives  multiplied  proofs  of  the  time  at  which 
the  almond  blossoms  and  the  grasshopper  appear:  Delitzsch’s  Koheleth, 
p.  446. 


/ 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

THE  PLAIN  OF  JERICHO. 

The  road  to  Jericho  goes  past  Bethany,  beyond  which  the 
ground  rises  into  a  new  height.  This  surmounted,  a  steep 
descent  leads  to  a  deep  valley  shut  in  by  hills.  A  well 
with  a  small  basin,  in  which  leeches  are  abundant,  stands 
at  the  side  of  the  track ;  the  only  one  between  Bethany 
and  the  Jordan  Valley.  Very  probably  this  was  the 
“  Spring  of  the  Sun,”  En  Shemesh,  mentioned  as  one  of 
the  boundaries  of  Judah,1  and  it  may  once  have  been  a 
stirring  spot,  from  the  excellence  of  the  water,  and  its 
being  necessarily  a  halting  place  for  all  travellers,  to 
quench  their  thirst.  From  this  point  the  road  stretches 
on  for  a  considerable  distance  over  level  ground,  between 
high  hills,  absolutely  desolate,  and  with  no  sign  of  human 
habitation  anywhere.  The  slopes  are  covered  with 
thorny  bushes  and  beds  of  stones,  fallen  from  above. 
The  silence  of  death  reigns  on  all  sides.  Yet  even  in  this 
desolate  and  wretched  tract  small  flocks  of  sheep  and 
goats  find,  here  and  there,  scanty  pasture  on  the  hill-sides. 
Gnarled  and  stunted  trees  occasionally  dot  the  plain. 
Was  it  through  this  barren  tract  that  the  grey- haired 
David  rode,  when  fleeing  to  the  Jordan,  from  Absalom  ? 
It  must  have  been  either  through  this  or  some  parallel 
valley  north  of  it,  and  one  can  easily  fancy  how  Shimei 


1  Josh.  xv.  7. 


Chap.  XXVIII.] 


THE  PLAIN  OF  JERICHO. 


67 


could  run  along  tlie  top  of  tlie  hills,  at  the  side,  and  hurl 
stones  down  the  steep  at  the  fugitive  king  and  his 
attendants,  mingling  with  his  violence  showers  of  curses : 
“  Out  with  you,  out  with  you,  thou  bloody  man,  thou  man 
of  Belial ;  the  Lord  hath  returned  upon  thee  all  the  blood 
of  the  house  of  Saul,  in  whose  stead  thou  hast  reigned.”1 
Somewhere  here,  also,  lay  the  village  of  Bahurim,  where 
the  king’s  spies  were  so  dexterously  hidden  in  the  empty 
cistern.2  A  small  valley  on  the  right,  and  a  low  hill  on 
the  track,  lay  between  us  and  the  Yalley  of  the  Sidr-tree — 
the  Spina  Christi — where  lie  the  ruins  of  the  old  Hathrur 
Khan.  These  may  not  themselves  be  ancient,  but  it  is  quite 
probable  that  there  may  have  been  a  khan  here  in  olden 
times  for  the  benefit  of  travellers.  There  are  now  only 
some  tumble-down  buildings,  quite  uninhabited.  The  whole 
region  is  painfully  desolate,  and  the  water  in  the  cisterns, 
from  the  surface  and  from  rain,  is  bad,  but  the  position  is  a 
three  hours’  journey  from  Jerusalem,  and  thus  half  way  to 
Jericho,  so  that  a  shelter  for  wayfarers  may  well  have  stood 
here  in  all  ages.  The  road  from  the  Jordan  to  the  capital 
was  a  very  busy  one  in  the  days  of  our  Lord,  since  the 
Jews  from  Galilee  usually  took  this  road  to  the  Holy  City. 
The  khan  to  which  the  good  Samaritan  guided  the  wounded 
Jew  may  very  possibly,  therefore,  have  stood  on  this  spot. 
There  is  seldom  a  caretaker  of  caravanserais  in  desolate 
places  in  the  East,  but  some  offer  this  advantage,  as  did  the 
one  on  this  road  in  the  time  of  Christ,  which  had  a  “  host,” 
who  could  even  be  trusted  with  the  care  of  the  sick.3  It  is 
touching  to  think  that  our  Lord  must  Himself  often 
have  rested  for  the  mid-day  hour  at  the  Khan  Hathrur,  on 
His  journeys  to  and  from  Jerusalem  ;  above  all,  that  He 
rested  here  for  the  last  time  when  on  His  way  to  the 

1  2  Sam.  xvi.  3,  7.  2  2  Sam.  xvii.  19.  See  also  Yol.  I.,  p.  557. 

3  Luke  x.  35. 

/  2 


68 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


Holy  City,  on  the  Friday  before  His  death.  What 
thoughts  must  have  tilled  His  soul,  as  He  thus  paused  to 
revive  wearied  nature,  before  beginning  the  last  three 
hours’  journey  towards  Calvary  ! 

The  road  from  this  point  was  for  a  time  tolerably  level, 
hut  its  framework  of  wild,  desolate  hills,  ever  more  bare 
and  stony,  grew  increasingly  repulsive  in  its  gloom  and 
sternness.  At  one  part,  the  road  climbed  forward  by  a 
narrow  path  hewn  in  the  rock,  and  the  view,  till  close  to 
the  plains  of  the  Jordan,  was  simply  that  of  a  dark  moun¬ 
tain  gorge.  At  times,  the  track  led  along  the  edge  of 
sheer  precipices  ;  at  others,  down  rocks  so  steep  and  rough 
that  it  needed  every  care  to  prevent  a  fall.  Yet,  as  a 
whole,  it  is  not  perhaps  worse  than  the  camel  track  from 
Joppa  to  Jerusalem. 

The  last  spur  of  the  mountains  was,  however,  after 
a  while,  left  behind,  and  then  the  scene  changed  in  a 
moment ;  a  magnificent  view  over  the  plains  of  the  J ordan 
lying  at  our  feet,  and  the  mountains  surrounding  them, 
bursting  on  the  sight.  The  Wady  Kelt  had  surfeited  us 
with  its  gloomy  horrors,  and  made  the  open  landscape  so 
much  the  more  charming.  Through  the  deep  clefts  past 
which  we  had  ridden,  a  winter  torrent  foams  wildly  in 
its  season,  though  there  is  no  water  in  its  bed  in  summer. 
This  gully  has  been  supposed  to  be  identical  with  that  of 
the  brook  Cherith  of  Elijah.1  But  the  words  used  respect¬ 
ing  that  famous  torrent — the  name  of  which  means  “the 
cutter  into  ”  (the  hills) — preclude  this  idea,  for  it  is  said 
that  Elijah  was  to  go  from  Samaria,  where  he  was,  east¬ 
ward,  and  hide  himself  in  the  brook  Cherith ;  the  ex¬ 
pression2  translated  “  brook  ”  in  our  version  being  that 
used  elsewhere  for  the  streams  in  the  deep  gorges  of  the 
Amun  and  Jabbok,  and  for  wadys  or  valleys  worn  bv  rain- 

1  1  Kings  xvii.  2  Nalial, 


XXVIII.] 


THE  PLAIN  OF  JERICHO. 


69 


floods.  Yet  it  is  impossible  to  determine  from  the  Hebrew 
text  whether  it  laj  “  towards  ”  the  Jordan,  or  “  east  ”  of 
it,  though  the  latter  is  the  more  probable  sense ;  and  if  this 
be  accepted,  the  Wady  Ajlun,  on  the  other  side  of  the 
river,  almost  exactly  east  of  Samaria,  appears  to  have 
special  claims,  as  its  lower  course  is  still  called  Fakarith, 
which  sounds  very  like  Cherith,  or,  to  write  the  name 
more  in  accordance  with  the  Hebrew — Crith. 

The  whole  of  Wady  Kelt  is  singularly  wild  and 
romantic,  for  it  is  simply  a  deep  rent  in  the  mountains, 
scarcely  twenty  yards  across  at  the  bottom,  filled  with 
tall  canes  and  beds  of  rushes,  to  which  you  look  down 
over  high  perpendicular  walls  of  rock.  Its  cliffs  are 
full  of  caves  of  ancient  hermits ;  and  the  ruins  of  the 
small  Monastery  of  St.  John  nestle  beneath  a  lofty 
dark  precipice  on  its  north  side.  At  this  place,  a  fine 
aqueduct,  leading  off  the  waters  of  a  great  spring,  crosses 
the  wady  by  what  has  been  a  splendid  bridge  seventy  feet 
high,  and  runs  on  for  three  miles  and  three-quarters  to 
the  opening  of  the  Jericho  plain.  White  chalk  hills  rise 
in  the  wildest  shapes  on  each  side,  forming  strange  peaks, 
sharp  rough  sierras,  and  fanciful  pyramid-like  cones  ;  the 
whole  seamed  in  all  directions  by  deep  torrent  beds.  Not 
a  tree  is  to  be  seen  on  the  bare  slopes.  Nor  is  the  end 
of  the  pass  less  striking,  for  it  is  guarded,  as  it  were,  by 
two  tall  sloping  peaks  of  white  chalk,  with  each  of  which 
special  traditions  and  legends  are  connected. 

Looking  away  from  the  gloomy  gorge  beneath,  and 
the  forbidding  hills  on  each  side,  the  view  of  the  Jordan 
plains  was  very  pleasant.  Their  apparently  level  surface 
stretched  for  miles  north  and  south,  dry  and  barren,  but 
amidst  the  uninviting  yellow,  treeless  waste,  there  rose,  im¬ 
mediately  in  front,  a  delightful  oasis  of  the  richest  green. 
The  banks  of  the  Jordan  are  fringed,  for  the  most  part, 


70 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


with  beds  of  tall  reeds,  oleanders,  and  other  luxuriant 
growths,  and  only  here  and  there  is  a  rift  in  the  verdure  to 
be  seen.  It  was  this  green  border  to  which  Jeremiah  gave 
the  name  of  the  “  glory  ”  of  Jordan,  mistranslated  “  swell¬ 
ing;  ”  in  our  version.1  The  attack  of  the  assailants  from 
Edom,  and  afterwards  of  those  from  Babylon,  is  painted 
by  the  prophet — a  native  of  Anatlioth,  in  the  tribe  of 
Benjamin,  near  Jerusalem — with  the  graphic  force  of  one 
who  knew  the  locality,  as  like  that  of  the  lion  “  for¬ 
saking  his  covert,”  2  and  “  coming  up  from  his  thicket,” 
— the  jungle  which  was  the  “glory”  of  Jordan,  against 
the  perennial  pastures 3  of  the  hills ;  where  the  flocks 
awaited  his  hunger.  On  the  east  of  the  plains  were  the 
Moabite  hills,  cut  into  numberless  ravines  and  clefts ;  and 
at  the  southern  end  of  the  oasis  rose  a  tower,  for  the 
protection  of  a  hamlet  whose  wretched  eartli-roofed  huts 
were  hard  to  recognise  in  the  distance. 

The  last  part  of  the  way  was  very  steep  and  tiresome, 
though  occasional  traces  showed  that  it  had  been  the  road 
to  Jerusalem  for  thousands  of  years.  At  this  part  water 
flowed  down  the  dark  gorge  of  the  Wady  Kelt,  apparently 
in  a  permanent  stream.  Two  ruined  castle-like  buildings 
stood  at  the  sides  of  the  way,  perhaps  marking  the  sites  of 
the  ancient  castles  of  Thrax  and  Tauros,  which  once  defended 
the  pass,  and  of  the  towers  of  the  later  times  of  the 
Khalifs,  or  of  the  Christian  kings  of  Jerusalem,  when 
the  plains  of  the  Jordan,  under  their  protection,  enjoyed 
a  rich  and  varied  prosperity.  We  were  now  in  the 
“circle”  of  the  Jordan,  known  as  the  “ghor,”  or  hollow, 
nearly  four  hundred  feet  below  the  level  of  the  Mediter¬ 
ranean,  so  that  we  had  descended  nearly  three  thousand 

1  Jer.  xii.  5  ;  xlix.  19  ;  1.  44.  Translated  “pride”  in  B.V. 

8  Jer.  iv.  7  ;  xxv.  38. 

8  Translated  “permanent  pastures”  in  B.Y, 


XXVIII.] 


THE  PLAIN  OF  JERICHO. 


71 


feet  since  leaving  Jerusalem.  We  were  still,  however, 
nearly  seven  miles,  in  a  straight  line,  from  the  Jordan, 
which  lay  more  than  eight  hundred  feet  still  lower  down,1 
so  that  we  had  a  constant  slope  before  us. 

About  half  a  mile  to  the  right,  and  a  little  farther 
than  that  from  the  mountains  we  had  left,  lay  what  is 
known  as  “The  Pool  of  Moses”;  an  ancient  reservoir, 
188  yards  long  and  157  broad,  constructed,  it  may  be, 
by  Herod,  in  connection  with  his  great  palace  and 
gardens  at  Jericho.  If,  however,  it  be  not  the  work  of 
the  great  Edomite,  it  at  least  shows,  in  the  remains  of 
an  aqueduct  from  th#  hills,  by  which  it  was  fed,  and  by 
its  own  great  size,  how  perfect  the  arrangements  for 
the  irrigation  of  the  place  must  have  been  in  antiquity, 
and  fully  explains  how  the  desert  around  us  had  once 
been  an  earthly  paradise.  Remains  of  aqueducts,  indeed, 
run  across  the  whole  region  in  all  directions,  indicating 
that  water  was  once  distributed  freely  to  all  parts  of  it, 
thus  everywhere  securing  the  vital  condition  of  its  fer¬ 
tility. 

The  Sultan’s  Spring,  which  is  also  known  as  the  Spring 
of  Elisha,  a  mile  and  a  half  north  of  the  road  from  Jeru¬ 
salem,  is  the  usual  place  for  travellers  to  pitch  their  tents ; 
affording  in  the  abundant  water  and  pleasant  verdure  a 
much  more  agreeable  site  than  the  dirty  modern  village  of 
Jericho.  Many  small  brooks  flowing  from  it,  and  giving  life 
to  some  patches  of  grain  and  dark-green  bean-fields,  had  to 
be  crossed  to  reach  it ;  the  Judyean  hills,  running  along  on 
the  left  hand,  in  long  broken  walls  of  bare  rock,  frightfully 
desolate  and  barren,  and  seamed  and  cut  into  by  deep  clefts 
and  ravines,  offering  a  striking  contrast  to  the  living  forces 
of  nature  around.  The  climate  is  so  hot  that  when  water 

1  Depth  at  the  foot  of  the  hills,  385  feet;  at  the  Jordan,  1,187  to  1,251 
feet  ( Great  Map  of  Palestine), 


72  THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE.  [Chap. 

is  abundant,  as  it  is  here,  we  have  the  luxuriance  of  the 
tropics.  The  harvest  ripens  at  this  level  some  weeks 
earlier  than  in  the  hill-valleys,  and  hence  the  first-fruits 
needed  for  the  Temple  altar,  at  the  Passover,  could  be 
obtained  from  this  plain.1  At  its  source,  the  fountain 
is  full  and  strong* ;  and  it  is  to  rivulets  flowing  from  it 
and  from  the  still  larger  Duk  Fountain,  a  mile  and  a 
half  further  north,  at  the  foot  of  the  mountains,  that  the 
ground  as  far  as  the  village  on  the  south  owes  its 
strong  vegetation,  while  all  the  rest  of  the  plain  for 
miles  in  every  direction  is  utterly  barren.  Yet  Josephus 
tells  us  that  in  his  day  the  whole  was  “  a  divine  region, 
covered  with  beautiful  gardens,  and  groves  of  palms  of 
different  kinds,  for  seventy  stadia  north  and  south,  and 
twenty  from  east  to  west ;  the  whole  watered  by  this 
fountain.” 2  It  springs  from  under  rocks,  and  at  once 
forms,  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  from  which  it  bursts,  a  large 
pool,  surrounded  by  thickets  of  nubk-thorn  or  sidr,  ole¬ 
anders,  and  tall  reeds. 

The  nubk-tree  ( Spina  Cliristi)  is  found  round  Jeru¬ 
salem  and  in  all  the  warmer  parts  of  Palestine,  especially 
along  the  sides  of  the  narrow  bed  of  the  Jordan,  much  of 
which  it  has  converted  into  an  impenetrable  thicket.  It 
gets  its  Latin  name  from  the  belief  that  from  it  was 
made  the  crown  of  thorns  forced  on  the  brow  of  our  Lord; 
and  the  flexible  twigs,  with  their  tremendous  spines,  which 
bend  backwards,  are  assuredly  well  fitted  to  make  an 
awful  instrument  of  torture  if  twisted  into  a  mock 
diadem.  Small  round  Jerusalem,  it  becomes  a  fine  tree 
in  hotter  places ;  one  or  two  at  the  fountains  in  the  plain 
of  the  Jordan  being  especially  large.  The  leaves  are 
bright  green  and  oval,  the  boughs  crooked,  the  blossom 
white  and  small;  and  it  bears,  from  December  to  June, 

2  J os.,  Bell.  Jud.,  iv.  8,  3. 


1  Lev.  xxiii.  10. 


XXVIII.] 


THE  PLAIN  OF  JERICHO. 


73 


a  yellow  fruit,  like  a  very  small  apple,  or,  rather,  like  a 
gooseberry.  This  is  eaten  by  the  Arabs  under  the  name  of 
“  dliom,”  or  jujubes,  and  is  very  agreeable,  either  fresh  or 
dried,  especially  when  mixed  with  “  leben,”  or  sour  milk. 
Fences  of  the  nubk  are  to  be  seen  round  all  the  grain  or 
bean  patches  of  the  Arabs,  in  the  Jordan  depression  ;  a 
few  branches  laid  one  on  the  other,  to  the  height  of 
about  a  yard,  forming  a  protection  through  which 
no  animal  ventures  to  break,  and  soon  getting  so  inter¬ 
laced  by  the  thorns,  that  they  become  virtually  one  solid 
whole. 

Palestine  is,  indeed,,  pre-eminently  the  land  of  thorns, 
the  dry  heat  arresting  the  development  of  the  leaves  in 
almost  all  plants,  and  making  them  merely  the  abortive 
growths  which  we  call  spines  or  prickles.  The  bramble 
which  was  summoned  by  the  trees  in  Jotham’s  parable 
to  be  their  king,1  seems  to  have  been  the  rliamnus, 
a  thorny  bush  found  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  and 
often  used  for  hedges,  like  our  hawthorn,  which  it  some¬ 
what  resembles.  Another  plant,  translated  in  our  version 
‘‘bramble,”  “thistle,”  and  “thicket,” 3  is  different  from 
the  rhamnus  in  Hebrew,  but  it  is  not  known  what  is 
particularly  intended  by  it.  It  must  have  been  a  com¬ 
paratively  weak  shrub  or  plant,  however — perhaps  a  thistle 
—  for  the  wild  beast  in  Lebanon  is  said  to  have  passed  by 
and  trodden  it  down.  The  thistles  of  Palestine  are  very 
numerous,  and  in  some  places,  for  instance  on  the  plain 
of  Esdraelon,  threaten,  at  many  spots,  to  choke  the  crops. 
But  to  quote  a  text  or  two  in  which  different  thistly 
or  thorny  plants  of  Scripture  are  named  will  give  a  better 
idea  of  their  number  than  any  mere  attempt  at  describing 


1  Judg.  xix.  14. 

2  Isa.  xxxiv.  13  ;  I  Sam.  xiii.  6  ;  2  Kings  xiv.  9  ;  Prov.  xxvi.  9 ;  Cant, 

ii.  2. 


74 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


them  singly.  “  Do  men  gather  figs  of  thistles  ?  ”  asks 
our  Lord.1  In  this  text  we  can  identify  the  plant  meant, 
by  its  name  in  the  Greek  Testament — the  “  tribolos  ” — 
from  which  an  iron  ball,  used  in  warfare,  got  its  name, 
spikes  protruding  from  it,  like  those  of  the  plant,  in 
four  directions,  so  that  whichever  way  it  fell,  when 
thrown  on  to  the  ground,  one  spike  stood  upright,  and 
thus  stopped  the  advance  of  cavalry.  The  centaurea,  or 
star  thistle,  is  exactly  like  this,  and  is  sadly  abundant 
in  the  fields  and  open  ground  of  Northern  Palestine, 
forming  barriers  through  which  neither  man  nor  beast 
can  force  a  path.  “  The  way  of  the  slothful  man  is  a 
hedge  of  thorns,”  says  Proverbs,2  using  a  word  which 
refers,  it  is  thought,  to  a  class  of  plants  the  name  of 
one  of  which  at  least,  the  miscalled  “  apple  of  Sodom,”  3  is 
well  known  in  poetry,  and  as  a  proverbial  expression  for 
anything  which  promises  fair  but  utterly  disappoints  on 
trial.  This  plant,  which  is  really  a  kind  of  potato,  grows 
everywhere  in  the  warmer  parts  of  Palestine,  rising  to 
a  widely  branching  shrub  from  three  to  five  feet  high ; 
the  wood  thickly  set  with  spines  ;  the  flower  like  that  of 
the  potato,  and  the  fruit,  which  is  larger  than  a  potato 
apple,  perfectly  round,  and  changing  from  yellow  to  bri  ght 
red  as  it  ripens.  That  it  is  filled  with  ashes  is  merely  a 
fable  ;  its  seeds  are  black,  like  those  of  a  potato.  Still 
another  kind  of  thorn  is  mentioned  as  that  with  which 
Gideon  proposed  “  to  tear  the  flesh  ”  of  the  men  of  Succoth, 
who  refused  to  help  him  against  the  Midianites.4  But  it 
is  needless  to  show  at  greater  length  what  every  traveller 
in  the  Holy  Land  knows  only  too  well — that  wherever 
you  turn,  “  brambles,”  “briers,”  “thorns,”  “thistles,”  and 
“  pricks  ”  of  all  kinds  abound.5 

1  Matt.  vii.  16.  2  Prov.  xv.  19.  3  See  post,  p.  117.  4  Judg\  viii.  7, 16. 

8  Six  Hebrew  words  are  translated  “  briers  ;  ”  two,  “  brambles  ;  ”  twelve, 


XXVIII.] 


THE  PLAIN  OE  JERICHO. 


75 


The  Sultan’s  Spring  is  the  only  one  in  the  plain  of 
Jericho,  except  that  at  Duk,  and  hence  it  was  very  prob¬ 
ably  the  scene  of  the  miracle  of  Elisha,  when  he  cast 
salt  into  the  water  and  cured  its  previous  bitterness.1 
Separated  into  many  rills,  it  now  serves,  as  I  have  said, 
to  water  the  patches  of  maize,  millet,  indigo,  wheat, 
barley,  or  beans,  grown  by  the  Arabs.  The  waters  of 
the  still  more  copious  Duk  Fountain  are  brought  along 
the  base  of  the  Judsean  hills,  to  the  top  of  the  slope 
behind  the  Sultan’s  Spring,  from  which  point  they  were 
formerly  distributed  to  several  mills  and  used  for  irrigating 
the  upper  part  of  the  plain ;  an  aqueduct  carrying  them 
over  a  gully  towards  the  south.  The  mills,  however, 
are  all  gone,  except  the  ruins  of  one  for  grinding  sugar¬ 
cane,  which  still  look  down  from  the  steep  side  of  the 
hill. 

The  top  of  the  mound  above  the  Sultan’s  Spring  com¬ 
mands  a  fine  view  over  the  plain,  which  needs  only  water 
and  industry  to  become  again  one  of  the  most  fruitful 
spots  in  the  world.  The  ever-flowing  waters  of  the  two 
fountains  spread  rich  fertility  for  several  miles  in  every 
direction,  hut  almost  all  this  verdure  is  nothing  more  than 
useless  shrubs  and  hushes.  Nature  is  ready,  but  man  is 
idle  and  neglectful.  Desolation  reigns  when  the  water 
ceases  to  moisten  the  soil ;  and  when  it  rains  the  showers 
feed  only  worthless  rankness.  Once,  however,  it  was  very 
different.  When  our  Saviour  journeyed  through  these 
parts,  groves  of  palms  covered  the  plain  far  and  near. 
The  Bible,  indeed,  calls  Jericho  “  the  city  of  palm  trees  ;  ” 2 
and  Josephus  speaks  of  those  graceful  trees  as  growing  to 
a  large  size,  and  as  very  numerous,  even  along  the  banks 

“  thorns  ;  ”  two,  “  thistles  ;  ”  and  one,  “  pricks  ;  ”  most  of  them  being  ren¬ 
dered  by  more  than  one  of  these  English  words. 

1  2  Kings  ii.  19 — 22.  2  Deut.  xxxiv.  3 ;  Judg.  i.  16. 


76 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


of  the  Jordan.1  Cotton  also  was  grown  here  as  early  as 
the  days  of  Joshua,2  if  Thenius  he  right,  though  that  is 
doubtful.  Jericho,  moreover,  was  famous  for  its  honey ; 
and  its  balsam  was  a  highly  prized  article  of  commerce. 
So  valuable,  indeed,  were  the  groves  from  which  the  latter 
was  made,  that  Herod  farmed  them  from  Cleopatra,  when 
they  had  been  handed  over  to  her  as  a  present  by  Mark 
Antony  ;  Arabia  and  the  plain  of  Jericho  being  trans¬ 
ferred  together  to  her,  as  if  they  had  been  a  trifle  for 
such  a  mistress  !  The  tree  from  which  henna  is  ob¬ 
tained — the  dye  still  used  by  the  women  of  the  East  to 
stain  their  nails — also  grew  here.  The  Son  of  Sirach 
makes  Wisdom  say  that  she  is  lofty  as  the  palm  trees 
of  Engedi,  and  like  the  roses  of  Jericho.3  Sycamores 
formed  alleys  alongside  the  roads,  as  they  now  do  in 
the  suburbs  of  Cairo.4  Even  yet,  the  zukkum,  a  small, 
thorny  tree,  yields  from  the  minute  kernels  of  its  nuts  an 
oil  which  is  highly  prized  by  the  Arabs  and  pilgrims,  as 
a  cure  for  wounds  and  bruises. 

The  few  feeble  and  lazy  inhabitants  of  the  plain  trouble 
themselves  little  with  the  cultivation  of  the  soil.  Fig-trees 
grow  luxuriantly  and  need  little  care,  but  any  large  fields 
of  grain  there  may  be  are  sown  and  reaped  by  strangers ; 
peasants  who  come  down  from  the  hills  for  the  purpose 
receiving  half  the  produce  for  their  own  share,  and  paying 
the  other  half  to  the  villagers  and  the  Government,  for  rent 
of  the  land,  and  taxes.  A  few  patches  of  tobacco,  cucumbers, 
or  millet  seemed  all  the  local  population  could  stir  them¬ 
selves  to  raise.  Yet  maize  is  said  to  be  here  a  biennial 
plant,  yielding  two  crops  from  the  same  roots.  Cotton 
flourishes  well,  but  is  rarely  planted ;  and  indigo,  though 
very  little  grown  now,  was  raised  freely  so  long  ago  as 

1  Jos.:  Ant.,  iv.  6,  1  ;  xiv.  4,  1  ;  xy.  4,  2  ;  Bell.  Jud.,  i.  6,  6  ;  iv.  8,  2,  3. 

2  Josli.  ii.  6.  3  Ecclus.  xxiv.  14.  4  Luke  xix.  4. 


XXVIII.] 


THE  PLAIN  OF  JERICHO. 


77 


tlie  twelfth  century,  in  the  time  of  the  Crusades ;  while  the 
sugar-cane  was  not  only  cultivated  widely  round  Jericho  in 
those  days,  but  grew  over  large  tracts  on  the  eastern  coast 
of  the  Mediterranean,  from  Tripolis  to  Tyre.  Sugar  was 
then  unknown  in  Europe,  hut  the  Crusaders,  naturally 
liking  the  sweet  juice  and  other  products  of  the  cane, 
adopted  the  word  zuccara,  which  is  now  our  word  “sugar.” 
The  Saracens,  in  fact,  in  the  centuries  before  the  Crusades, 
had  introduced  the  growth  and  manufacture  of  sugar  on  a 
large  scale,  and  it  was  they,  apparently,  who  built  at  least 
some  of  the  large  aqueducts  round  Jericho,  for  irrigation, 
and  raised  the  sugar  mills  of  which  the  remains  are  still 
seen  on  the  slope  above  the  Sultan’s  Spring. 

From  the  time  Ave  reached  the  level  of  the  Medi¬ 
terranean,  in  descending  from  Jerusalem,  a  notable  change 
had  been  visible  in  the  flora  around,  all  the  plants  being 
new  and  strange;  and  the  same  change  was  noticeable  in  the 
fauna.  Almost  every  creature  has  the  tawny  colour  of  the 
soil ;  the  only  exceptions  being  a  few  parti-coloured  birds, 
and  the  beetles.  The  desert  sand-partridge  takes  the  place 
of  its  more  strongly  marked  counterpart  of  the  hills ;  the 
hare  is  tamed  down  to  the  prevailing  russet,  and  the  foxes, 
larks,  and,  indeed,  all  forms  of  animal  life,  are  of  a  light 
brown  colour.  The  very  foliage,  and  most  of  the  blossoms, 
are  brownish-yellow  or  yellowish- white. 

The  Sultan’s  Spring  has  a  special  interest,  since  it 
marks  the  site  of  the  Jericho  of  our  Lord’s  day.  It  bursts 
out,  in  a  volume  of  clear  and  delightful  water,  from  the 
shingle  at  the  foot  of  a  great  mound,  under  which  lie  the 
remains  of  part  of  the  once  famous  city.  A  large  fig-tree 
shades  the  pool,  which  has  a  temperature  of  84°  Fahrenheit, 
and  swarms  with  fish.  The  hill  above  is  simply  the  rubbish 
of  old  houses,  temples,  and  palaces,  full  of  bits  of  pottery 
and  glass.  The  ruins  of  a  small  Eoman  shrine  still  rise 


78 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


behind  the  Spring,  like  part  of  an  old  enclosing  wall ; 
and  fragments  of  pillars  and  capitals  lie  around.  From 
tliis  point  Jericho  stretched  away  to  the  south  and  north, 
tapping,  by  aqueducts,  the  great  Duk  Fountain,  to  which,  the 
water  of  a  third,  far  off  in  the  uplands,  was  brought  in  con¬ 
duits.  As  the  town  lay  close  to  the  hills,  it  is  easy  to  see 
how  the  spies  of  Joshua  could  have  escaped  up  the  hollow  of 
the  ravine  leading  to  the  Duk  Fountain,  and  thence  to  the 
hills,1  though  there  may  not  have  been  the  same  wild  cover 
of  jungle  and  corn-brake  to  hide  them  that  there  is  now. 
Of  ancient  Jericho  we  know  nothing,  except  that  it  was  a 
walled  city,  with  gates  shut  at  sundown,2  and  houses  on 
the  line  of  the  town  walls,  over  which  some  of  the  windows 
projected.3  It  could  not,  however,  have  been  a  very  large 
place,  since  the  Hebrew  ark  was  carried  round  it  seven  times 
in  one  day.4  Finally,  it  stood  on  rising  ground,  for  when 
the  walls  fell,  the  assailants  had  to  “ascend  ”  to  the  town. 
Like  other  Eastern  cities,  it  had  numbers  of  oxen,  sheep, 
and  asses  within  the  walls ; 5  and  the  population,  in  its 
different  grades,  had  not  only  the  pottery  common  to  all 
ages,  but  vessels  of  brass,  iron,  silver,  and  gold.6  Not¬ 
withstanding  the  curse  denounced  on  anyone  who  rebuilt 
it,  it  soon  rose  from  its  ashes  ;  the  prohibition  appearing 
only  to  have  been  against  its  being  restored  as  a  fortified 
place,  for  it  was  assigned  by  Joshua  himself  to  the 
tribe  of  Benjamin7 — certainly  not  to  lie  a  heap  of  ruins. 
Hence  we  find  it  flourishing  in  the  time  of  the  Judges, 
under  Eglon,  the  King  of  Moab,8  and  it  was  still  pros¬ 
perous  in  the  time  of  David,  who  ordered  his  ambassadors  to 
stay  in  it  after  they  had  been  outraged  by  the  Ammonites.9 
The  curse  of  Joshua  was  fulfilled,  for  the  first  time,  in 

1  Josh.  ii.  22.  4  Josh.  vi.  4.  7  Josh,  xviii.  21. 

2  Josh.  ii.  5.  5  Josh.  vi.  21.  8  Judg.  iii.  12,  13. 

3  Josh.  ii.  15.  6  Josh.  vi.  24.  9  2  Sam.  x.  5. 


XXVIII.] 


THE  PLAIN  OF  JERICHO. 


79 


the  reign  of  Ahab,  when  JEIiel  of  Bethel  fortified  the  city.1 
It  was  here  that  poor  Zedekiah,  the  last  king  of  Judah, 
was  seized  in  his  flight  by  the  Chaldieans,  to  he  taken 
to  Biblali  and  blinded  by  Nebuchadnezzar.2  After  the 
return  from  Babylon  a  new  settlement  was  begun  by 
345  men,  no  doubt  with  their  families — children  or 
descendants  of  captives  taken  from  Jericho ; 3  but  they 
did  not  attempt  to  fortify  it,  for  this  was  first  done  by 
the  Syrian  general  Bacchides  in  the  Maccabsean  wars.4 
Herod  the  Great,  in  his  Earlier  career,  assaulted  and 
sacked  it,  but  at  a  later  time,  when  he  had  bought  it 
from  Cleopatra,5  he  lavished  wealth  on  its  defences  and 
embellishment.  To  command  it,  he  built  the  fortress 
ICypros  on  the  height  behind,  erected  different  palaces 
which  he  called  after  various  friends,  and  built  a  great 
circus  for  horse  racing  and  heathen  games.6  It  was  at 
Jericho  that  this  splendid  but  unfortunate  and  bad  man 
ended  his  life,  in  terrible  agony,  passing  away  with  a 
command,  worthy  of  his  worse  nature,  that  his  sister 
Salome,  as  soon  as  he  was  dead,  should  massacre  all  the 
chief  men  of  the  Jews,  whom  he  had  previously  summoned 
to  Jericho  and  shut  up  in  the  circus.  He  would  make  his 
death  to  be  lamented  by  the  people  in  some  way,  he  said 
. — for  their  own  sakes  if  not  for  his.  Salome  was  prudent 
enough,  however,  to  leave  the  savage  injunction  unful¬ 
filled.  The  great 'palace  in  which  Herod  had  so  often 
resided  was  burnt  down  a  few  years  after  his  death,  in  one 
of  the  fanatical  risings  of  the  population,  led  by  a  fancied 
Messiah,  but  Arclielaus  restored  it  with  more  than  its 
former  splendour. 

It  was  to  this  city  that  our  Lord  came,  when  He  was 

1  1  Kings  xvi.  34.  4  1  Mace.  ix.  50. 

2  2  Kings  xxv.  7  ;  Jer.  xxxix.  7  ;  lii.  11.  6  See  p.  76. 

3  Ezra  ii.  34;  Nell.  vii.  36;  iii.  2.  0  Jos.,  Ant.,  xvi.  5,  2;  6,  5. 


so 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


received  by  Zaccliseus,  and  healed  the  blind  man.1  The 
branches  of  one  of  the  sycamores  lining  the  road,  easily 
reached  from  their  bending  horizontally  near  the  ground, 
had  formed  a  look-out  from  which  the  publican  could 
see  over  the  heads  of  the  crowd,  and  from  this  he  was 
called  to  escort  Christ  to  his  house. 

Very  different  from  this  city  of  palaces  is  its  present 
successor  Eriha,  one  of  the  foulest  and  most  wretched 
villages  of  Palestine.  Itude  walls  of  stone,  often  dilapidated, 
with  roofs  of  earth  heaped  on  layers  of  reeds,  maize  stalks, 
or  brushwood ;  no  windows  ;  one  room  for  all  purposes ; 
the  wreck  of  old  huts  breaking  the  rude  line  of  those  still 
inhabited, — these  are  the  features  of  modern  Jericho. 
The  four  walls  of  the  hovels  are  mere  loosely  piled  stones, 
taken  from  ancient  ruins,  and  stand  quite  irregularly,  with 
great  gaps  between  them,  each  having  a  yard  fenced 
with  the  thorny  boughs  of  the  nubk.2  Open  sheds,  with 
roofs  like  the  hovels  themselves,  held  up  by  poles  bent 
at  every  angle,  provide  a  shelter  by  night  for  the 
sheep  and  goats,  which  make  them  unspeakably  filthy. 
A  stronger  hedge,  of  the  same  impenetrable  thorns,  sur¬ 
rounds  the  whole  village ;  for  what  purpose  it  is  hard  to 
say,  as  they  would  be  poor  indeed  who  sought  plunder  in 
such  a  place.  The  few  bits  of  cultivated  ground  near  the 
huts  seem  mainly  given  to  tobacco  and  cucumbers,  for  no 
provisions  of  any  kind  were  to  be  had,  except  some  wheat. 
They  had  not  even  lentils.  As  if  to  point  the  contrast 
with  the  past,  a  solitary  palm-tree  rose  from  amidst  the 
squalor.  The  villagers  bear  a  very  bad  character,  especi¬ 
ally  the  women,  who  are  worthy,  for  morals,  of  their 
ancestors  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  once  the  cities  of  this 
very  plain.  There  are  about  sixty  families  in  Eriha. 

The  wheat  harvest  here  is  ripe  early  in  May,  three 

1  Luke  xviii.  35  ;  xix.  1 — 7  ;  Matt.  xx.  29  ;  Mark  x.  46.  2  See  p.  72. 


XXVIII.] 


THE  PLAIH  OF  JERICHO. 


81 


weeks  after  the  barley  harvest,  while  the  cornfields  at 
Hebron  and  Carmel  are  still  green  ;  and  it  is  reaped,  as  I 
have  said,  by  hands  of  peasants  from  the  hills,  who  also 
sow  the  grain.  There  is  no  need  of  its  lying  in  the  field 
to  dry,  for  the  snn  is  so  hot  that  the  sheaves  can  be  car¬ 
ried  at  once  to  the  threshing-floor,  on  camels,  or  on  small 
asses,  which  look  like  mounds  of  moving  grain  beneath 
great  loads  that  well-nigh  hide  them.  The  earth  on  a 
round  spot  about  fifty  feet  across  has  already  been 
trodden  and  beaten  hard,  as  a  threshing-floor.  On  this 
the  grain  is  thrown,  and  trodden  out  by  oxen  or  cows, 
which  are  often  driven  round  it  five  abreast.  No 
sledges  are  used  on  the  plains  of  the  Jordan,  the  feet  of 
the  animals  sufficing  to  tread  out  the  corn  and  break  the 
straw  into  “teben”;  the  whole  contents  of  the  floor  being 
frequently  turned  over  by  a  long  wooden  fork  with  two 
prongs,  to  bring  all,  in  turn,  to  the  top.  When  trodden 
enough,  it  is  winnowed  by  being  thrown  against  the  wind 
with  the  fork  which  is  alluded  to  by  the  Baptist,  when 
he  says  of  the  coming  Messiah  that  “  His  fan  is  in  His 
hand,  and  He  will  throughly  cleanse  His  threshing- 
floor.” 1  The  waste  in  this  primitive  husbandry  is  very 
great,  much  of  the  corn  falling  from  the  backs  of  the  asses 
or  camels,  much  getting  trodden  into  the  cracks  of  the 
ground,  and  not  a  little  of  the  straw,  with  all  the  chaff, 
flying  off  before  the  wind.  Elsewhere,  the  process  varies 
in  some  features,  though  everywhere  the  same  in  its  lead¬ 
ing*  characteristics.  The  oxen  or  cows  used  to  tread  out 

O 

the  grain  are  still  unmuzzled  on  the  plains  of  the  Jordan,2 
especially  among  the  Mahommedans.  Some  Christians,  I 
regret  to  say,  are  not  so  humane.  Our  co-religionists,  as  a 
whole,  have  not,  indeed,  a  very  high  reputation  in  the  East, 
as  may  he  judged  from  a  story  told  mo  by  the  steamship 

1  Matt.  iii.  12.  2  Deut.  xxv.  k 


// 


82 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


captain  on  my  first  trip  np  the  Mediterranean  many 
years  ago.  Wishing  to  land  some  goods  at  a  spot  on  the 
Red  Sea,  where  there  was  no  provision  for  putting  them 
under  lock  and  key,  he  hesitated  to  leave  them  on  the 
naked  shore.  “  You  don’t  need  to  fear,”  said  a  turbaned 
functionary :  “  there  is  not  a  Christian  within  fifty 

miles  !  ” 

Between  the  fountain  and  the  village  there  is  a  wady 
in  which  a  streamlet  flows  through  a  thicket  of  nubk  and 
other  trees,  entering,  at  last,  the  court  of  the  old  tower 
which  looks  down  on  the  huts,  and  filling  its  reservoir. 
Some  large  fig-trees  rise  here  and  there,  and  the  Palma 
C/irisli,  from  which  castor  oil  is  extracted,  is  common,  rising 
in  this  locality  into  a  large  perennial  tree,  from  the  moist 
heat  of  the  climate.  A  great  block  of  red  Egyptian  granite, 
from  Assouan,  lay  at  one  spot,  partly  buried ;  the  fragment 
of  a  stone  which  had  been  from  eight  to  ten  feet  long. 
It  must  have  been  landed  at  Acre  or  Tyre,  and  brought 
down  the  side  of  the  Jordan  channel,  from  the  north — but 
when,  or  by  whom? 

The  heat  of  the  Jordan  plains  is  very  great  in  summer, 
and  oppressive  even  in  spring,  while  in  autumn  it  becomes 
very  unhealthy  for  strangers.  In  May,  the  thermometer 
ranges  from  about  86°  in  the  early  forenoon  to  over  100° 
in  the  beginning  of  afternoon,  standing,  even  in  the  shade, 
at  over  90°.  The  delight  of  sitting  under  one’s  own  vine 
and  fig-tree  in  such  a  land  can  he  imagined. 

A  band  of  Turkish  soldiers,  encamped  near  the  village 
to  keep  the  wandering  Arabs  in  awe,  enlivened  the  land¬ 
scape  by  their  moving  life.  As  the  sun  sank  in  the  west, 
long  shadows  lay  on  the  plain,  while  the  hills  beyond 
the  river  were  dyed  in  the  richest  purple.  North  of  the 
village  and  fountain,  the  mountains  of  Judsea  stretched, 
north  and  south,  in  a  huge  arc,  contrasted  with  which  the 


XXVIII.] 


THE  PLAIN  OF  JERICHO. 


83 


Moabite  hills  seemed  a  straight  line.  The  bold,  pic¬ 
turesque  form  of  Jebel  Quarantania,  the  mountain  of  the 
Forty  Days’  Temptation,1  rose  a  mile  behind  the 
Sultan’s  Spring,  more  marked  than  any  other.  Numerous 
hermits  made  themselves  cells  in  the  steep  sides  of  this 
height  in  the  early  Christian  centuries,  and  a  church 
once  stood  on  its  barren  top,  but  the  whole  region 
has  been  forsaken  by  man  for  ages.  Now  that  Easter 
was  approaching,  the  plains,  however,  were  for  a  time 
alive  with  visitors.  The  trumpets  of  the  Turks  blew 
unmelodious  signals.  Horsemen  moved  hither  and 
thither.  Natives  were  busy  pitching  tents  for  some  tra¬ 
vellers.  Bedouins  were  kindling  a  fire  of  thorns.  Bands 
of  pilgrims  set  up  their  tents,  lighted  blazing  fires,  and 
amused  themselves  by  firing  off  guns,  listening  to  gossip, 
or  making  sport — for  they  were  of  all  ages.  Oxen,  horses, 
sheep,  and  goats  fed  as  they  could,  around.  Yet  beyond 
the  immediate  neighbourhood,  and  especially  to  the  south, 
stretched  out  a  dismal  wilderness.  When  night  fell,  the 
stars  shone  out  with  a  lustre  peculiar  to  such  regions,  but 
sleep,  when  found,  was  not  any  the  sounder  for  the 
yelping  and  barking  of  the  village  dogs  and  the  screams 
of  the  jackals.  The  Bedouins  lay  down  round  their  fire 
in  their  thick  “  abbas,”  for  without  such  a  protection 
the  night  is  dangerous.  It  was  the  same  in  Bible  times, 
as  we  learn  from  the  kindly  words  of  the  old  Mosaic  law : 
“  If  thy  debtor  be  poor,  thou  shalt  not  sleep  with  his 
pledge  :  in  any  case  thou  shalt  deliver  him  the  pledge 
again  when  the  sun  goetli  down,  that  he  may  sleep  in  his 
own  upper  garment  and  bless  thee.”2  It  is  surprising 
how  men  can  sleep  without  injury  in  the  open  air,  as 
the  natives  very  often  do,  for  the  dew,  or,  rather,  sea- 
moisture,  frequently  falls  so  heavily  as  to  soak  the  canvas 

1  Matt.  iv.  1.  2  Deut.  xxiv.  12, 13. 

a  *> 

y  ~ 


84 


THE  HOLY  LA  HD  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


of  tents  like  rain.  Perhaps  their  safety  lies  in  the  fact 
that  Orientals  always  cover  the  head  in  sleeping.  I  have 
frequently  seen  such  copious  moisture  on  everything,  in 
the  early  morning,  that  one  can  readily  picture  to  himself 
how  the  Beloved,  in  Canticles,  wandering  through  the 
night,  could  say,  “  My  head  is  filled  with  dew,  and  my 
locks  with  the  drops  of  the  night.”  1 

The  ride  from  Erilia  to  the  Jordan  is  about  five  miles 
over  a  stony  plain,  which  swells,  at  intervals,  into  flat 
mounds  of  salt  marl,  on  which  there  is  no  vegetation. 
Year  by  year  the  winter-rains  sweep  down  the  slope,  and 
wash  away  a  layer  of  the  wide  surface,  carrying  it  to 
the  Jordan,  there  being  little  to  check  them  but  copses  of 
the  zukkum  tree  and  Spina  Christi.  Yet  seven  monas¬ 
teries  once  stood  on  this  now  desolate  tract ;  three  of  them 
still  to  be  identified  by  their  ruins.  Till  we  reach  tlie  edge 
of  the  Jordan,  only  the  stunted  bushes  I  have  mentioned,- 
unworthy  of  the  name  of  trees,  and  a  few  shrubs  with 
dwarfed  leaves,  are  to  be  seen  after  leaving  the  moisture 
of  the  Sultan’s  Spring.  Not  a  blade  of  grass  softens 
the  dull  yellow  prospect  around,  and  yet  the  whole  region 
needs  only  water  to  make  it  blossom  like  a  garden.  The 
track  ran  along-  the  last  miles  of  the  Wadv  Kelt  as  it 
stretches  on  to  the  Jordan — a  broad  watercourse,  strewn 
with  water  worn  boulders  and  shingles,  with  banks  twenty 
to  thirty  feet  high,  and  from  fifty  to  a  hundred  yards 
apart,  fringed  with  straggling,  stunted,  thorny  bushes, 
kept  in  life  by  the  evaporation  from  what  water  may  flow 
in  the  torrent  bed  below  during  the  year,  and  boasting 
in  one  spot  a  solitary  cluster  of  palm-trees.  The  way  led 
to  the  site  of  the  ancient  Beth-Hogla — “  the  home  of  part¬ 
ridges  ” — which  belonged  to  Benjamin,  and  marked  the 
division  between  its  territory  and  that  of  Judah.2  Names 

1  Cant.  y.  2.  2  J osh.  xy.  6 ;  xviii.  19,  21. 


XXVIII. 


THE  PLAIN  OF  JERICHO. 


85 


cling  to  localities  with  strange  tenaciousness  in  the  East, 
and  that  of  Beth-Hogla  still  remains  in  the  modern 
Arabic  form  of  Ain  Hajlah — the  Fountain  of  Hoglah. 
This  spring,  the  water  of  which  is  reputed  the  finest  in 
the  whole  “  ghor,”  bubbles  up  in  a  clear  ]  ool,  almost  tepid, 
enclosed  by  an  old  wall  about  five  feet  round  and  only  a 
little  above  the  ground ;  the  sparkling  stream  flowing  over 
it,  and  carrying  life  wherever  it  goes.  A  grove  of  willows 
skirts  it  for  a  good  distance  in  its  course ;  hut,  after  all, 
this  is  only  a  spot  of  verdure  in  the  wide  desolation. 
Offering  the  means  of  gaining  rich  harvests  far  and  wide, 
the  fountain  is,  nevertheless,  utterly  unused  by  man  ;  the 
birds  and  wild  creatures  alone  frequent  it.  That  the  plain 
to  the  west,  which  lies  higher,  was  once  richly  fertile,  is 
certain,  hut  it  might  he  difficult  to  realise  how  this  was 
possible,  did  we  not  find  the  wreck  of  an  aqueduct  which 
stretched  all  the  way  from  the  Sultan’s  Spring  to  Ain 
Hoglah.  Nearlv  two  miles  from  this  “  living  water  ” 
there  was  till  lately  a  ruin  called  Kusr  Hajlah — the 
House  or  Tower  of  Hoglah — the  remains  of  one  of  the 
monasteries,  once  filled  by  fugitives  from  the  busy  world. 
Some  figures  of  Greek  saints,  some  patches  of  fresco,  and 
some  inscriptions,  used  to  be  Ausible  on  its  roofless  and 
crumbling  walls;  but  in  1882  these  ancient  remains  were 
destroyed,  to  make  room  for  a  new  monastery.  How  long 
ago  it  is  since  the  first  matins  and  evensong  rose  from  this 
spot  no  one  can  tell,  but  it  seems  probable  that  they  were 
heard  in  these  solitudes  fifteen  hundred  years  ago  ;  and 
from  that  remote  day  till  about  the  time  of  our  Henry 
the  Eighth,  monks  of  the  order  of  St.  Basil  offered  a 
refuge  here  to  the  pilgrims  who  visited  the  hanks  of  the 
Jordan. 


CHAPTEB  XXIX. 


THE  JORDAN. 

The  first  sight  of  the  Jordan,  rushing  swiftly  on  its  way, 
fills  the  heart  with  uncontrollable  emotion.  Sometimes, 
for  a  short  distance,  straight,  it  continually  bends  into  new 
courses  which  hinder  a  lengthened  view,  yet  add  to  the 
picturesque  effect.  On  both  sides,  it  is  deeply  bordered  by 
rich  vegetation.  Stretches  of  reeds,  ten  or  twelve  feet  high, 
shaken  in  the  wind,1  as  such  slender  shafts  well  may  be, 
alternate  with  little  woods  of  tamarisks,  acacias,  oleanders, 
pistachios,  and  other  trees,  in  which  “  the  fowls  of  the 
heaven  have  their  habitation,  and  sing  among  the 
branches.”2  Nightingales,  bulbuls,  and  countless  turtle 
doves,  find  here  a  delightful  shade  and  abundant  food. 
But  though  a  paradise  for  birds,  these  thickets  hide  the 
view  of  the  river,  except  from  some  high  point  on  the 
upper  bank,  till  vegetation  ceases  two  or  three  miles  from 
the  Dead  Sea.  As  it  runs  through  the  open  plain,  the 
stream  has  at  different  times  had  many  banks,  which  rise 
above  each  other  in  terraces.  Its  waters  once  washed 
the  foot  of  the  mountains  behind  Jericho,  630  feet 
above  the  Dead  Sea,  as  shown  by  the  mud  terrace  and 
gravel  deposits  they  threw  down  on  the  lower  slopes 
of  these  hills  when  they  rolled  past  them  in  a  stream 
nearly  sixteen  miles  wide.  A  second  terrace  of  gravel, 


1  Matt.  xi.  7 ;  Luke  vii.  24. 


2  Ps.  ciy.  12. 


Chap.  XXIX.] 


THE  JORDAN. 


87 


520  feet  above  tlie  Dead  Sea,  stretches  from  the 
Sultan’s  Spring,  for  several  miles,  towards  the  Jordan. 
In  this  plateau,  freshwater  shells  of  the  river  and  its 
tributary  streams  are  found  bedded  in  layers  of  silt. 
At  about  a  mile  from  the  present  banks  there  is  a 
third  terrace  of  white  marl  crusted  with  salt,  a  little 
over  two  hundred  feet  above  the  Dead  Sea,  and  to 
this  succeeds  a  fourth,  which  is  liable,  though  rarely, 
to  floods,  and  forms  the  alluvial  plain  bordering  the 
river.  At  its  upper  end  this  bank  has  a  height  of 
ninety  feet  above  the  Dead  Sea,  but  it  gradually  sinks  to 
the  level  of  the  surrounding  flat  as  the  river  approaches 
its  mouth.1  The  surface  is  covered  with  thin  herbage  and 
scattered  shrubs,  and  runs  like  a  bluff  close  to  the  bank 
of  the  river.  Descending  its  steep  face  to  a  depth  of  over 
fifty  feet,  we  are  in  the  midst  of  the  bird-paradise  of  tama¬ 
risks,  acacias,  silver  poplars,  willows,  terebinths,  and  other 
trees  of  which  I  have  spoken  ;  a  dense  undergrowth  of 
reeds  and  plants  fond  of  moisture  filling  up  the  intervals 
between  the  higher  vegetation.  This,  I  may  repeat,  is  the 
“swelling”  or  “glory”  of  the  Jordan;  once  the  haunt 
of  the  lion,  and  still  of  the  leopard,  traces  of  which 
are  constantly  to  be  seen,  especially  on  the  eastern  side. 
Wild  swine,  also,  swarm  in  this  jungle,  which  is  pierced  in 
every  direction  by  their  runs.  Below  this  narrow  belt  of 
green,  the  Jordan  rushes  on,  twisting  from  side  to  side  in 
its  crooked  channel ;  its  waters,  generally  not  more  than 
fifty  yards  across,  discoloured  by  the  earth  they  have 
received  from  their  banks,  or  from  tributaries,  and  in  most 
places  too  deep  to  ford.  When  the  stream  is  low,  inner 
banks  are  visible,  about  five  or  six  feet  high,  but  when  it 
is  in  flood,  the  waters  sweep  up  to  the  terrace  above, 
driving  out  the  wild  beasts  in  terror  for  their  lives. 

O 

1  Prof,  Hull's  Mount  Seir,  &c.,  1(52. 


88 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


it  was  during  this  inundation  that  the  Israelites 
crossed,  under  Joshua.  The  time  of  their  passage  was  four 
days  before  the  Passover,1  which  has  always  been  held 
during  the  full  April  moon,  and  then,  as  now,  the  harvest 
was  ripe  in  the  Jordan  valley  from  April  to  early  in  May  ; 
the  ripening  of  barley  preceding  that  of  wheat  by  two 
or  three  weeks.  Then  also,  as  now,  there  was  a  slight 
annual  rise  of  the  waters  from  the  melting  of  the  snows 
in  Lebanon,  and  from  the  spring  rains,  so  that  the  river 
flowed  “  with  full  banks  ” 2  when  the  Hebrews  came  to 
it.  It  cannot,  however,  rise  above  the  sunken  terrace  on 
which  its  border  of  jungle  grows,  and  thus,  since  the 
waters  shrank  to  their  present  level,  can  never  have  flooded 
the  upper  plain,  as  the  Nile  does  Egypt.  But  even 
within  the  limits  of  its  present  rise,  a  great  stream  pours 
along,  in  wheeling  eddies,  when  the  flood  is  at  its  height  ; 
so  great,  that  the  bravery  of  the  lion-faced  men  of  Gad, 
who  ventured  to  swim  across  it  when  thus  full,  to  join 
David,  has  been  thought  worthy  of  notice  in  the  sacred 
records.3  How  stupendous,  then,  the  miracle  by  which 
Israel  went  over  dry-shod  ! 4 

Somewhere  near  the  mouth  of  the  Jordan,  perhaps  at 
the  ford  two  miles  above  it,  John  the  Baptist  drew  to 
his  preaching  vast  multitudes  from  every  part  of  the 
country,  including  not  only  Judaea,  but  even  distant  Galilee; 
our  blessed  Lord  among  others.  Eor  it  was  here  that,  at 
His  baptism,  the  heavens  were  opened,  and  the  Spirit  of 
God  descended  upon  Him,  “  and  lo  a  voice  from  heaven, 
saying,  This  is  My  beloved  Son.”  5  But  though  John  may 
have  baptised  at  the  ford,  it  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that 
the  Israelites  crossed  at  this  point,  for  the  words  are,  “The 

1  Josh.  iv.  19;  y.  10. 

2  Josh.  iii.  15  ;  1  Cliron.  xii.  15;  Ecclus.  xxiv.  26. 

3  1  Chron.  xii.  15.  4  Josli.  iii.  17.  5  Matt.  iii.  17. 


XXIX.] 


THE  JORDAN. 


89 


waters  that  came  down  from  above  stood  and  rose  up 
upon  a  heap  .  .  .  and  those  that  came  down  toward  the 
sea  .  .  .  failed,  and  were  cut  off;  and  the  people  passed 
over  right  against  Jericho.”  1  Thus,  the  waters  being 
held  hack,  those  below  flowed  off,  and  left  the  channel 
dry  towards  the  Dead  Sea ;  so  that  the  people,  who 
numbered  more  than  two  millions,  were  not  confined  to 
a  single  point,  hut  could  pass  over  at  any  part  of  the 
empty  channel. 

From  the  site  of  Beth-Hogla  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Jordan  is  a  ride  of  about  three  miles,  the  last  part  of 
which  is  over  a  forbidding  grey  flat,  impregnated  with 
salt,  and  utterly  destitute  of  living  trees,  though  the 
bleached  trunks  and  houghs  of  many,  uprooted  by  floods, 
stick  up  from  the  soft  mud.  Here  and  there,  indeed,  a 
sandy  hillock,  rising  above  the  level,  gives  a  home  to  some 
desert  shrubs,  but  such  a  break  in  the  dulness  is  com¬ 
paratively  rare.  The  jerboa,  a  creature  doubtless  well 
known  to  the  Israelites,  is  often  seen  on  these  hillocks, 
which  are  filled  with  its  burrows — their  safe  hiding-places 
on  the  approach  of  danger ;  the  least  alarm  causing  them 
to  disappear  into  them  as  if  by  magic,  for  they  leap  off 
to  them  over  the  sand  with  wonderful  speed,  like  minia¬ 
ture  kangaroos.  Beautiful  creatures  they  are,  with  their 
soft,  chinchilla-like  fur,  their  great  eyes  and  mouse-like 
ears  ;  and  singular  in  their  structure,  with  their  almost 
nominal  fore-legs,  and  hind-legs  as  long  as  their  body, 
while  the  tail  is  still  longer.  It  seems  as  if,  what  with 
the  tail  and  great  hind-legs,  they  flew  rather  than  leaped. 
Banked  by  the  Jews  among  mice,  the  jerboa  was  “  un¬ 
clean,”  and  could  not  be  eaten,  but  the  Arabs  have  no 
such  scruples;  though  it  is  only  very  small  game,  since 
its  body  measures  no  more  than  six  or  seven  inches  in 

1  Josh.  ii.  16. 


90 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


length.  There  are,  in  all,  twenty -three  species  of  small 
rodents  in  Palestine,  and  of  these  not  a  few  contribute 
to  the  kitchen  comfort  of  the  Bedouins,  when  caught. 
One  singular  mouse,  which  abounds  in  the  ravines  and 
barrens  round  the  Dead  Sea,  is  exactly  like  a  small  porcu¬ 
pine  ;  sharp  bristles,  like  those  of  a  hedgehog,  standing 
out  from  the  upper  half  of  its  back,  wonderfully  long  for 
a  creature  about  the  size  of  our  home  mouse. 

I  must  not  forget  to  notice  another  animal  that  abounds 
in  the  gorge  of  the  Kedron,  and  along  the  foot  of  the 
mountains  west  of  the  Dead  Sea — the  cony  of  Scrip¬ 
ture.  It  is  the  size  of  a  rabbit,  but  belongs  to  a  very 
different  order  of  animals,  being  placed  by  naturalists 
between  the  hippopotamus  and  the  rhinoceros.  Its  soft 
fur  is  brownish -grey  over  the  back,  with  long  black  hairs 
rising  through  this  lighter  coat,  and  is  almost  white  on 
the  stomach ;  the  tail  is  very  short.  The  Jews,  who  were 
not  scientific,  deceived  by  the  motion  of  its  jaws  in  eat¬ 
ing,  which  is  exactly  like  that  of  ruminant  animals,  fancied 
it  chewed  the  cud,  though  it  “  did  not  divide  the  hoof,” 
and  so  they  put  its  flesh  amidst  that  wliich  was  forbidden.1 
It  lives  in  companies,  and  chooses  a  ready-made  cleft  in 
the  rocks  for  its  home,  so  that,  though  the  conies  are  but 
“  a  feeble  folk,”  their  refuge  in  the  rocks 2  gives  them 
a  security  beyond  that  of  stronger  creatures.  They  are, 
moreover,  “  exceeding  wise,”  so  that  it  is  very  hard  to 
capture  one.  Indeed,  they  are  said,  on  high  authority,  to 
have  sentries,  regularly  placed  on  the  look-out  while  the 
rest  are  feeding ;  a  squeak  from  the  watchman  sufficing 
to  send  the  flock  scudding  to  their  holes  like  rabbits. 
The  cony  is  found  in  many  parts  of  Palestine,  from 
Lebanon  to  the  Dead  Sea,  and  in  this  latter  re'gion  the 
Arabs  eagerly  try  to  kill  it,  as  choice  eating. 

1  Lev.  xi.  5  ;  Deut.  xiv.  7.  2  Ps.  civ.  18  ;  Prov.  xxx.  24,  26. 


XXIX.] 


THE  JORDAN. 


91 


The  Jordan  was  regarded  by  the  Israelites  as  the  glory 
of  their  country,  for  it  is  the  only  river  in  Palestine  which 
alwa}Ts  flows  in  a  copious  stream,  though  its  sunken, 
tumultuous,  twisted  course,  which,  between  the  Sea  of 
Galilee  and  the  Dead  Sea,  winds  for  some  200  miles  over 
a  space  only  about  sixty  miles  in  direct  length,  has  made 
it  useless  for  navigation,  or  as  an  attraction  to  human 
communities,  except  at  the  plain  of  Jericho.  The  great 
miracle  when  the  Hebrews  passed  over  made  it  sacred  to 
them,  so  that  its  waters  were  already  regarded  with  rever¬ 
ence  when  Elisha  commanded  Naaman  to  wash  in  them  as  a 
cure  for  his  leprosy.1  Hallowed  still  more  by  the  preaching 
of  John  and  the  baptism  of  Christ,  the  Jordan  has  been 
the  favourite  goal  of  all  pilgrimages  to  the  Holy  Land,  in 
every  age  since  the  first  Christian  centuries.  As  early  as 
the  days  of  Constantine,  to  be  baptised  in  its  waters  was 
deemed  a  great  privilege,  while  in  the  sixth  century 
Antoninus  relates  that  marble  steps  led  down  into  the 
water  on  both  sides  at  the  spot  where  it  was  believed  our 
Lord  had  been  baptised,  while  a  wooden  cross  rose  in  the 
middle  of  the  stream.  Upon  the  eve  of  the  Epiphany,  he 
adds,  “  great  vigils  are  held  here,  a  vast  crowd  of  people  is 
collected,  and  after  the  cock  has  crowed  for  the  fourth  or 
fifth  time,  matins  begin.  Then,  as  the  day  commences  to 
dawn,  the  deacons  begin  the  holy  mysteries,  and  celebrate 
them  in  the  open  air ;  the  priest  descends  into  the  river, 
and  all  who  are  to  be  baptised  go  to  him  A  Holy  water 
was  even  in  that  earl y  age  carried  away  by  masters  of 
vessels  who  visited  it  as  pilgrims,  to  sprinkle  their  ships 
before  a  voyage;  and  we  are  told  that  all  pilgrims  alike 
went  into  the  water  wearing  a  linen  garment,  which  they 
sacredly  preserved  as  a  winding  sheet  to  be  wrapped  round 
them  at  their  death.2  The  scene  of  the  yearly  bathing  . 

1  2  Kings  v.  6  £0.  2  Antoninus *  Pal.  Explor.  Fund  ed.,  p.  11. 


92 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


of  pilgrims  now  is  near  tlie  ford,  about  two  miles  above  the 
Dead  Sea,  each  sect  having  its  own  particular  spot,  which 
it  fondly  believes  to  be  exactly  that  at  which  our  Saviour 
was  baptised. 

The  season  of  baptism  has  been  changed  from  the 
colder  time  of  Epiphany  to  that  of  Easter,  and  as  the 
date  of  the  latter  feast  differs  in  the  Boman  and  Greek 
Churches,  no  collisions  take  place.  Each  Easter  Monday 
thousands  of  pilgrims  start,  in  a  great  caravan,  from 
Jerusalem,  under  the  protection  of  the  Turkish  Govern¬ 
ment  ;  a  white  flag  and  loud  music  going  before  them, 
while  Turkish  soldiers,  with  the  green  standard  of  the 
prophet,  close  the  long  procession.  On  the  Greek  Easter 
Monday  the  same  spectacle  is  repeated,  four  or  five 
thousand  pilgrims  joining  in  this  second  caravan.  Form¬ 
erly,  the  numbers  going  to  Jordan  each  year  were 
much  greater,  from  fifteen  to  twenty  thousand  visiting  it 
even  fifty  years  ago. 1  The  streets  of  Jerusalem  are,  for 
the  time,  deserted,  to  see  the  vast  cavalcade  set  out ; 
women  in  long  white  dresses  and  veils,  men  in  flowing 
robes  and  turbans,  covering  the  space  outside  the  walls 
and  the  slopes  and  hollow  of  the  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat 
in  a  parti-coloured  crowd,  eager  to  see  the  start.  At 
last  the  procession  streams  from  the  gate  and  pours  along 
the  camel-track,  towards  Bethany  and  the  Jordan  ;  some 
on  foot ;  others  on  horseback,  or  on  asses,  mules,  or  camels. 
Some  companies  travel  with  tents  and  provisions,  to  make 
everything  comfortable  on  the  journey.  Here,  a  woman 
on  horseback,  with  a  child  on  each  arm,  is  to  be  seen  ; 
there,  in  a  pannier  on  one  side  of  a  mule,  is  a  woman,  in 
another  on  the  opposite  side  is  a  man  ;  or  a  dromedary, 
with  a  great  frame  across  its  hump,  bears  a  family  with  all 
their  coverlets  and  utensils.  The  Bussian  jDilgrims,  men, 

1  Stephen,  Incidents,  2,  228. 


XXIX.] 


THE  JORDAN-. 


93 


women,  and  priests,  if  it  be  the  Greek  Easter,  are  afoot  in 
heavy  boots,  fur  caps,  and  clothing  more  fitted  for  Archangel 
than  for  the  Jordan  valley.  Midway  comes  a  body  of 
Turkish  horse,  with  drawn  swords,  clearing  the  way  for 
the  governor;  then  pilgrims  again.  Drawn  from  every 
land,  they  have  travelled  thousands  of  miles,  in  the  belief 
that  to  see  the  holy  places  ,  and  to  bathe  in  the  Jordan  will 
tell  on  their  eternal  happiness. 

In  these  wonderful  gatherings  there  are  as  many 
women  as  men.  The  Turkish  soldiers  are  not  merely 
ornamental,  or  a  compliment  to  Christianity,  but  an  in¬ 
dispensable  protection  from  the  robbers  or  thieves  who 
have  frequented  the  road  since  long  before  the  story  of 
the  good  Samaritan,  and  from  the  Bedouin  at  the  Jordan 
itself.  The  broad  space  between  the  Sultan’s  Spring 
and  Eriha  is  soon  an  extemporised  town,  tents  of  all  sizes 
rising  as  by  magic,  wdiile  at  night  the  plain  is  lighted  up 
by  the  flames  of  countless  fires.  Next  morning  they  start 
from  this  resting-place  before  sunrise,  and  march  or  ride 
by  the  light  of  the  Passover  moon  towards  the  brink  of 
the  Jordan,  but  the  pace  of  such  a  confused  throng  is 
slow.  To  help  them  on  the  first  stages  of  their  way, 
multitudinous  torches  blaze  in  the  van,  and  huge  watch- 
fires,  kindled  at  the  sides  of  the  road,  guard  them  past  the 
worst  places,  till,  as  daylight  breaks,  the  first  of  the 
throng  reach  the  sacred  river.  Before  long,  the  high 
bank,  above  the  trees  and  reeds,  is  crowded  with  horses, 
mules,  asses,  and  camels,  in  terrible  confusion ;  old,  young, 
men,  women,  and  children,  of  many  nationalities,  all  press¬ 
ing  together,  in  seemingly  inextricable  disorder.  Yet 
they  manage  to  clear  themselves  after  a  time,  and 
then,  dismounting,  rush  into  the  water  with  the  most 
business-like  quiet ;  too  earnest  and  practical  to  express 
much  emotion.  Some  strip  themselves  naked,  but  most 


94 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


of  them  plunge  in  clad  in  a  white  gown,  which  is  to  serve 
hereafter  as  a  shroud,  consecrated  by  its  present  use. 
Families  bathe  together,  the  father  immersing  the  infant 

o  ‘  o 

and  his  other  children,  that  they  may  not  need  to  make 
the  pilgrimage  in  later  life.  Most  of  them  keep  near  the 
shore,  but  some  strike  out  boldly  into  the  current ;  some 
choose  one  spot,  some  another,  for  their  hath.  In  little 
more  than  two  hours  the  banks  are  once  more  deserted,  the 
pilgrims  remounting  their  motley  army  of  beasts  with 
the  same  grave  quiet  as  they  had  shown  on  leaving  them 
for  a  time  ;  and  before  noon  they  are  back  again  at  their 
encampment.  They  now  sleep  till  the  middle  of  the  night, 
when,  roused  by  the  kettledrums  of  the  Turks,  they  once 
more,  by  the  light  of  the  moon,  torches,  and  bonfires, 
turn  their  faces  to  the  steep  pass  up  to  Jerusalem,  in  such 
silence  that  they  might  all  be  gone  without  waking  you, 
if  you  slept  near  them.  It  was  thus  with  a  great  caravan 
of  pilgrims  who  encamped  a  few  yards  from  my  tent  near 
the  Lake  of  Galilee.  Noisy  enough  by  night,  with  firing 
of  pistols  and  guns,  they  struck  their  tents  and  moved  off 
in  the  morning  without  breaking  my  sleep. 

The  ancient  Gilgal,  where  the  Israelites  erected  a 
circle  of  twelve  stones,  to  commemorate  the  passage  of 
the  Jordan,  and  where  they  renewed  the  rite  of  circum¬ 
cision,1  has  been  rediscovered,  of  late  years,  by  a  German 
traveller,2  whose  ear  fortunately  caught  from  the  lips  of 
the  Arabs  the  words  Tell  Jiljal  and  Birket  Jiljalia ;  the 
former  a  mound  over  the  ancient  town,  and  the  latter  its 
pond.  They  lie  about  three  miles  south-east  of  the 
Sultan’s  Spring,  close  to  the  track  leading  to  the  Ford 
of  the  Jordan,  and  a  little  more  than  a  mile  nearly  east  from 
Eriha,  but  beyond  the  verdure  which  surrounds  it.  The 


1  Josh.  iv.  19,  20  ;  v.  2. 

2  Zschotte,  Hector  of  the  Austrian  Ho-pice  at  Jerusalem,  1865. 


XXIX.] 


THE  JORDAN. 


95 


pool  is  of  stone,  without  mortar,  about  forty  yards  in 
diameter,  and  witliin  a  mile  of  it  are  about  a  dozen 
mounds,  three  or  four  feet  high,  which  maybe  the  remains 
of  the  fortified  camp  of  the  Israelites.  Ancient  Canaan- 
itish  houses  were  very  probably  built  of  mud,  and  would 
disappear  very  soon,  if  deserted ;  and  it  is  perhaps  on  ac¬ 
count  of  this  that  so  few  vestiges  are  now  to  he  found  of 
either  Gil  gal  or  Jericho.  Captain  Conder  supposes  that 
the  twelve  stones  set  up  by  Joshua  were  something  like  a 
Druidical  circle  ;  a  kind  of  rude  sanctuary,  of  the  form  of 
the  numerous  rings  of  huge  stones  still  found  in  Moab, 
and  more  or  less  in  many  countries,  over  a  great  part  of 
the  world.  It  may  have  been  so,  hut  one  can  hardly 
believe  that  all  traces  of  it  would  have  perished,  had  it 
been  thus  a  miniature  Stonehenge. 

There  are  several  “  Gfilgals  ”  in  the  Bible,  hut  this,  on 
the  plain  of  the  Jordan,  was  the  most  important.  It  was 
doubtless  from  it  that  the  “  angel,”  or,  rather,  “  messen¬ 
ger,”  of  Jehovah  came  up,  from  the  sunken  “ghor,”  to 
Bochim,  in  the  hill-country,  to  rebuke  the  people,  in  the 
early  days  of  the  Judges,  for  their  relations  to  the  heathen 
inhabitants,  and  for  their  heathenism.1  Gilgal  must  thus, 
even  then,  it  would  seem,  have  been  a  religious  centre,  from 
which  priests  could  be  sent  on  spiritual  errands  to  other 
parts  of  the  land.  It  was  to  this  Gilgal,  also,  that  the 
representatives  of  the  tribe  of  Judah  came,  to  invite  David 
to  return  to  Jerusalem,  after  the  death  of  Absalom  ;2  such 
a  venerable  sanctuary  appearing  the  best  place  fora  solemn 
act  of  kingly  restoration.  What  services  were  performed 
at  Gilgal,  or  in  what  the  sanctuary  consisted,  is  not  dis¬ 
coverable,  unless  there  be  a  hint  in  the  twelve  stones  of 
Joshua,  or  in  the  statement  that  there  were  Pesilim 
“by  Gil  gal.”3  This  word  means,  in  twenty  out  of  the 

1  Judg.  ii.  1.  2  2  Sam.  xix.  15  3  Juclg.  iii.  19. 


96 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


twenty-one  cases  in  which  it  occurs,  carved  images  of 
idols  ;  and  though  the  Targum  translates  it  in  this  one 
instance  by  “  quarries,”  it  very  probably  does  so  to  save 
the  early  Israelites  from  an  imputation  of  idolatry.  If 
“  carved  images  ”  be  really  meant,  the  inclination  of  the 
ancient  Hebrews  to  idolatry  must  have  early  shown  itself 
after  their  first  arrival  in  Palestine.  It  is  not  certain,  how¬ 
ever,  that  this  passage  refers  to  the  Gilgal  of  the  Jericho 
plain  ;  it  may  allude  to  another,  in  the  hills  of*  Ephraim.1  A 
Gilgal  is  mentioned  “  beside  the  oaks  of  Moreh,”  2  that  is, 
near  Shechem,  the  present  Nablus.  From  this,  or  from  still 
another  Gilgal,  Elijah  went  doivn  to  Bethel,  and  then,  farther 
down,  to  Jericho,  so  that  it  must  have  been  either  north 
of  Bethel,  or  must  have  lain  higher  than  that  place,  the 
Gilgal  of  the  Jordan  being  excluded  in  either  case.3  In  this 
third  Gilgal  there  was  a  community  of  prophets,  for  whom 
Elisha  made  wholesome  the  pottage  of  deadly  gourds.4  It 
was,  however,  at  the  Gilgal  in  the  Jordan  plains  that 
Joshua  so  long  had  bis  headquarters,  after  the  taking  of 
Jericho  and  Ai  ;5  that  the  tabernacle  stood  before  it  was 
transferred  to  Shiloh;6  and  that  Samuel  held  yearly  circuit 
as  a  judge,7  and  solemnly  inaugurated  the  kingdom  of 
Saul,  and  that  that  unfortunate  chief  more  than  once 
assembled  the  people  around  him.8  And  it  is  this  Gilgal 
which  the  prophets  Ilosea  and  Amos  denounced  as, 
along  with  Bethel,  a  chief  seat  of  the  wmrship  of  the 
calf  by  the  northern  kingdom.9  Besides  these  three 
Gilgals,  there  was  a  fourth,  apparently  in  the  plains  of 


1  Judg.  iii.  27.  5  Josh.  ix.  6  ;  x.  6,  15,  43;  xiv.  6. 

2  Dent.  xi.  30.  6  Josh,  xviii.  I. 

3  2  King’s  ii.  1,  2.  7  1  Sam.  vii.  16 ;  xi.  15. 

4  2  Kings  iv.  38.  8  1  Sam.  xiii.  4;  xv.  12,  21,  33. 

9  Hos.  iv.  15  ;  ix.  15 ;  xii.  11 ;  Am.  iv.  4 ;  v.  5.  From  Ramah  Samuel 

goes  down  to  Gilgal.  So  does  Saul  from  Carmel  in  Judah,  but  he  goes  up 

from  Gilgal  to  Gibeah  (1  Sam.  x.  8 ;  xv.  1°,  34} 


XXIX.  1 


THE  JORDAN. 


97 


Sharon;1  the  frequent  repetition  of  the  name  perhaps 
implying  that  in  the  early  ages  of  Israelitisli  history,  the 
setting  up  of  stone  circles,  to  which  it  seems  to  refer, 
was  a  frequent  custom  with  the  people.  It  assuredly  was 
so  with  their  neighbours  of  Moab,  as  is  still  shown  by  the 
numerous  stone  monuments,  in  circles  and  other  shapes, 
preserved  to  our  day.2 

The  Jordan,  for  much  the  greater  part  of  its  course, 
flows  far  below  the  level  of  the  sea ;  its  mouth  being  about 
thirteen  hundred  feet  below  the  Mediterranean.  It  can 
never  have  run  into  the  Gulf  of  Akabah,  at  the  head  of  the 
Red  Sea,  for  the  very  good  reason  that  the  watershed 
which  lies  in  the  way  is  more  than  eight  hundred  feet 
above  the  Mediterranean.  South  of  the  Dead  Sea,  the 
continuation  of  the  Valley  of  the  Jordan  is  known  as  the 
Arabah,  that  is,  the  “Waste,’’  or  “Steppe;”  while  the 
valley  through  which  the  river  actually  flows  is  known  as 
the  “  ghor,”  or  “  depression.”  The  Jordan  formed  the 
eastern  boundary  of  the  Promised  Land  ;  any  territory  to 
the  east  of  it  being  spoken  of  as  “  on  the  farther  side  ”  of 
the  river.  Its  strange  channel,  sinking  so  deep,  from  step 
to  step,  gained  it  the  name  of  Jordan,  or  “  descender,” 
while  its  numerous  fords,  rapids,  eddies,  sandbanks,  and 
its  sharp  reefs,  past  which  it  often  shoots  wildly,  Lave  in 
all  ages  prevented  its  being  used  for  boats  or  other  vessels. 
Shut  out  from  cooling  winds,  the  valley  is  insufferably  hot 
for  most  of  the  year,  and  hence  is  little  inhabited.  No 
town  has  ever  risen  on  its  banks,  those  near  it  standing 
upon  heights  some  distance  from  it.  No  road  ever  ran 
through  its  gorges,  though  many  crossed  at  its  fords,  but 
even  these  were  very  difficult  of  approach,  from  the  steep¬ 
ness  and  roughness  of  the  wadys  on  either  side. 

The  most  noteworthy  source  of  the  Jordan,  near 

1  Josh.  xii.  23.  2  Cornier,  Heth  and  Moab ,  passim. 

h 


98 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


Hasbeya,  in  Lebanon,  is  about  2,200  feet  above  the 
sea.  But  it  has  two  others — a  spring,  as  large  as  a 
small  river,  which  flows  from  under  a  low  height  at 
Dan  ;  and  a  great  flow  of  waters  issuing  from  a  cave 
at  the  foot  of  the  hills  at  Banias,  or  Caesarea  Philippi, 
a  thousand  feet  above  the  Mediterranean.  These,  after 
rushing  swiftly  and  often  tumultuously  on  their  separate 
courses,  unite  in  the  little  Lake  of  Huleh,  four  miles 
long,  the  ancient  Sea  of  Merom,  which  lies  about  ninety 
feet  above  the  ocean.  A  short  distance  below  Huleh 
the  river  is  crossed  by  the  ancient  but  still  used  “  Bridge 
of  the  Daughters  of  Jacob,”  and  is  still  slightly  above 
the  sea-level ;  but  from  this  point  it  rapidly  sinks.  Bush¬ 
ing  and  foaming  through  narrow  clefts  in  the  rocks,  it 
hurries  on  to  the  Lake  of  Galilee,  ten  miles  and  a  half 
from  Lake  Huleh  ;  entering  it  through  a  green,  marshy 
plain,  at  a  level  of  682  feet  below  the  Mediterranean. 
Its  course  from  the  Lake  southwards  is  a  continued  and 
sometimes  rapid  descent.  In  the  twenty-six  and  a  half 
miles  from  Banias,  it  has  already  fallen  1,682  feet,  and  it 
has  yet  to  sink  610  feet  lower,  before  it  reaches  the 
Dead  Sea,  sixty-five  miles  in  a  straight  line  from  the 
Sea  of  Galilee,  but  three  times  as  far  by  the  bends  of  the 
river  channel.  The  total  length  of  the  Jordan,  from 
Banias,  is  thus,  in  a  straight  line,  only  about  a  hundred 
and  four  miles,  or  one-half  the  length  of  the  Thames. 
Inside  the  deep  sunken  “ghor,”  alongside  the  stream, 
a  terrace  runs  from  forty  to  150  feet  above  the  water, 
and  on  this  alone  luxuriant  vegetation  is  found,  the  land 
over  the  “  ghor  ”  being  very  barren.  An  old  Saracen 
bridge,  five  or  six  miles  below  the  Lake  of  Galilee,  marks 
the  spot  where  probably  Naaman  crossed  when  he  re¬ 
turned  from  Samaria  to  Damascus.1  The  Syrians,  under 

1  2  Kings  y.  14. 


XXIX.] 


THE  JORDAN. 


99 


Benhadad,  fled  by  tbe  same  wa}^,1  and  liere,  too,  Judas 
Maccabams  crossed  when  returning  from  Gilead.2  Very 
pissibly  David  used  the  same  ford  when  be  invaded 
Syria,3  for  it  is  still  the  road  from  Jerusalem  and  Shechem, 
by  way  of  Beisan,  to  Gilead  and  Bashan.  Near  the 
mouth  of  the  Jabbok,  on  the  east  side  of  the  river, 
another  bridge,  built  by  the  Bomans,  marks  the  ford 
where  so  many  Ephraimites  were  slain  by  Jephtha;4  and 
it  was  apparently  by  this  bridge  that  Galilean  pilgrims, 
in  the  time  of  Christ,  ended  the  roundabout  journey 
they  had  made  down  the  east  bank  of  the  Jordan,  to 
avoid  Samaria;  crossing  the  Jordan  to  the  eastern  side  a 
little  below  the  Lake  of  Galilee,  and  recrossing  here  to 
go  on  to  Jericho,  and  thence  to  Jerusalem.  Here,  also, 
the  Christians  must  have  crossed  who  fled  to  Pella  at 
the  fall  of  Jerusalem. 

Five  or  six  miles  from  the  river,  west  of  this  passage, 
travellers  or  fugitives  in  these  old  times  had  the  great 
hill  of  Surtabeh  standing  up  isolated  more  than  two 
thousand  feet  above  the  Jordan5  as  their  landmark;  a 
height  famous  in  the  land,  for  it  was  from  its  summit 
that  the  appearance  of  the  new  moon  was  flashed  by 
signal  fires  over  the  country,  till  the  Samaritans  kindled 
false  lights  on  other  hills,  so  that  couriers  had  to 
take  the  place  of  beacon  flames.  It  is  probable  that 
Zartlian,  where  Solomon  had  the  brazen  vessels  made 
for  his  Temple,  lay  near  Surtabeh,  as  the  soil  of  this  part 
of  the  “  ghor  is  said  to  be  specially  fitted  for  founders’ 
moulds.  In  the  lower  stages  of  the  course  of  the  Jordan 
the  mountains  on  the  western  side  are  very  rugged  and 
barren,  in  contrast  to  those  on  the  eastern,  but  at  the 

1  2  Kings  vii.  15.  3  2  Sam.  x.  17. 

2  1  Macc.  y.  52.  4  Judg.  xii.  5. 

6  It  is  2,368  feet  above  the  Jordan,  and  1,241  feet  above  the  Mediterranean. 

h  2 


100  THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE.  [Chap. 

mouths  of  the  valleys,  where  the  water  is  low,  there  are  a 
number  of  fords  used  from  of  old  by  all  who  crossed 
either  east  or  west. 

From  the  foot  of  Hermon  to  Lake  Huleh,  the  river 
descends,  in  a  very  short  distance,  1,434  feet;  thence  to 
the  Lake  of  Galilee  it  falls  897  feet;  and  from  that  Lake 
to  the  Dead  Sea,  618  feet  more  ;  in  all,  2,949  feet.  At 
Lake  Huleh,  the  charming  open  ground  is  fertile  ;  and 
there  are  many  green  oases  in  the  deep  cleft  from  the 
Lake  of  Galilee,  southwards  ;  but  as  a  whole  the  deeply 
sunken  inner  banks  of  the  river  deserve  the  name 
given  them  by  the  Hebrews — the  Arabah,  or  Waste. 
Nor  is  the  wildness  relieved  by  peaceful  tributaries  on 
either  side,  for  though  several  perennial  streams  join  the 
main  current  from  the  east,  and  many  winter  torrents 
rush  downwards  to  it  from  the  west,  they  pour  on  both 
sides  through  ravines  so  steep  and  rugged  that  it  is 
laborious  to  reach  the  level  of  the  stream  at  any  part. 
The  common  means  of  crossing:  in  Bible  times  seems  to 

O 

have  been  by  fords,  though  David  is  said  to  have  been 
taken  over  with  Barzillai  in  a  ferry  boat ;  but  there  are 
many  shallow  places  in  the  long  chasm  through  which 
the  waters  seek  their  way  before  reaching  the  plain  of 
Jericho. 

A  river  so  unique*  may  well  demand  our  attention,  not 
only  for  its  strange  descent  beneath  the  level  of  the  sea, 
or  for  the  historical  associations  of  its  borders,  but  also  for 
other  features,  which  supply  the  key  to  its  past  physical 
history.  Between  Banias  and  Huleh  the  valley  is  about 
five  miles  broad,  with  steep  cliffs  on  each  side,  about  two 
thousand  feet  high,  and  more  or  less  marshy  ground  be¬ 
tween,  the  river  flowing  in  the  middle  of  the  plain.  After 
leaving  Lake  Huleh,  however,  the  stream  turns  to  the  foot 
of  the  eastern  hills,  running  about  four  miles  from  the 


XXIX.] 


THE  JORDAN. 


101 


western  range,  which  towers  up,  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Sated,  to  more  than  3,500  feet  above  the  Lake  of  Galilee, 
the  bed  of  which  is  the  first  sign  of  the  great  chasm  in 
which  the  river  henceforth  flows.  For  thirteen  miles 
south  of  the  Lake,  to  Beisan,  the  valley  is  about  four 
and  a  half  miles  wide,  some  of  the  cliffs  on  its  western 
side  rising  eighteen  hundred  feet  above  the  stream.  In 
the  next  twelve  miles  it  is  still  broader,  expanding  to  a 
width  of  six  miles,  its  sides  showing  a  very  curious 
succession  of  terraces.  Beisan,  for  example,  stands  on  a 
plateau  about  three  hundred  feet  below  the  Mediterranean; 
the  “  ghor  ”  itself  is  four  hundred  feet  lower ;  while  the 
narrow  trench,  from  a  quarter  to  half  a  mile  broad,  in 
which  the  river- actually  flows,  is  a  hundred  and  fifty  feet 
lower  still.  This  open  part  of  the  valley  is  full  of  springs, 
and  hence  remarkably  fertile.  After  it  is  passed,  the 
width  contracts  to  two  or  three  miles,  with  hills  rising,  on 
the  western  side,  about  five  hundred  feet  above  the  sea. 
After  running  twelve  miles  through  this  glen,  the  stream 
again  has  an  open  course  for  a  time  through  a  valley 
eight  miles  broad,  till  we  reach  Surtabeh,  which  rises 
2,400  feet  above  the  river,  as  I  have  said.  From  this 
point  to  the  plain  of  Jericho,  the  “  ghor  ”  is  about  ten 
miles  broad,  the  river  flowing,  here  as  elsewhere,  in  a 
deeply  sunken  channel  worn  out  in  the  valley.  Finally, 
there  is  the  Jericho  plain,  which  the  Palestine  Survey 
reports  as  measuring  more  than  eight  miles  from  north 
to  south,  and  more  than  fourteen  across,  with  the  Jordan 
in  about  the  middle.  The  actual  river-bed  is,  in  this  sec¬ 
tion,  including  its  successive  terraces,  about  a  mile  wide, 
and  two  hundred  feet,  or  thereabouts,  below  the  broad 
valley.  It  helps  to  explain  the  saltness  of  the  Dead  Sea 
to  find  that  from  Beisan  southwards  numbers  of  salt 
springs  flow  into  the  river. 


102 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


It  would  appear  from  this  sketch  of  the  course  of  the 
river  that  a  great  lake  once  stretched  to  the  foot  of 
Lebanon,  and  that  after  it  had  begun  to  dry  up,  a  chain 
of  lakes,  filling  the  broad  parts  of  the  valley,  for  a  time 
took  the  place  of  the  still  larger  lake,  gradually  shrinking, 
however,  till  we  have  only  Huleh,  the  Lake  of  Galilee, 
and  the  Dead  Sea,  and  the  dry  beds  of  two  other  lakes, 
represented  by  the  plain  of  Beisan  and  that  of  Jericho. 

The  only  boat,  so  far  as  is  known,  that  ever  descended 
the  whole  course  of  the  Jordan,  was  that  of  Lieutenant 
Lynch,  of  the  American  Navy,  whose  description  of  the 
“  glior ??  is  necessarily  the  most  complete  we  possess ; 
his  account  of  the  lower  part  of  its  course  bringing  it 
before  us  with  a  vividness  only  possible  to  personal 
observation.  “  The  boats  had  little  need  to  propel  them,” 
says  he,  “  for  the  current  carried  us  along  at  the  rate  of 
from  four  to  six  knots  an  hour,  the  river,  from  its  eccentric 
course,  scarcely  permitting  a  correct  sketch  of  its  topo¬ 
graphy  to  be  taken.  It  curved  and  twisted  north,  south, 
east,  and  west,  turning,  in  the  short  space  of  half  an  hour, 
to  every  quarter  of  the  compass. 

“For  hours,  in  their  swift  descent,  the  boats  floated 
down  in  silence,  the  silence  of  the  wilderness.  Here  and 
there  were  spots  of  solemn  beauty.  The  numerous  birds 
sang  with  a  music  strange  and  manifold ;  the  willow 
branches  floated  from  the  trees  like  tresses,  and  creep¬ 
ing  mosses  and  clambering  weeds,  with  a  multitude  of 
white  and  silvery  little  flowers,  looked  out  from  among 
them  ;  and  the  cliff  swallow  wheeled  over  the  falls,  or 
went  at  his  own  wild  will,  darting  through  the  arched 
vistas,  shadowed  and  shaped  by  the  meeting  foliage  on  the 
banks  ;  and,  ^bove  all,  yet  attuned  to  all,  was  the  music 
of  the  river,  gushing  with  a  sound  like  that  of  shawms 
and  cymbals. 


XXIX.] 


THE  JORDAN. 


103 


“The  stream  sometimes  waslied  tlie  bases  of  tbe  sandy 
bills,  and  at  other  times  meandered  between  low  banks, 
generally  fringed  with  trees  and  fragrant  with  blossoms. 
Some  points  presented  views  exceedingly  picturesque — the 
mad  rushing  of  a  mountain  torrent,  the  song  and  sight  of 
birds,  the  overhanging  foliage,  and  glimpses  of  the  moun¬ 
tains,  far  over  the  plain,  and  here  and  there  a  gurgling 
rivulet,  pouring  its  tribute  of  crystal  water  into  the  now 
muddy  Jordan.  The  western  shore  was  peculiar,  from 
the  high  limestone  hills,  .  .  .  while  the  left,  or  eastern 
bank,  was  low,  and  fringed  with  tamarisk  and  willow,  and 
occasionally  a  thicket  of  lofty  cane,  and  tangled  masses  of 
shrubs  and  creeping  plants,  giving  it  the  character  of  a 
jungle.  At  one  place  we  saw  the  fresh  track  of  a  tiger 
[leopard]  on  the  low  clayey  margin,  where  he  had  come 
to  drink.  At  another  time,  as  we  passed  his  lair,  a  wild 
boar  started  with  a  savage  grunt,  and  dashed  into  the 
thicket,  but  for  some  moments  we  traced  his  pathway 
by  the  bending  canes  and  the  crashing  sound  of  broken 
branches. 

“  The  birds  were  numerous,  and  at  times,  when  we 
issued  from  the  silence  and  shadow  of  a  narrow  and 
verdure-tinted  part  of  the  stream  into  an  open  bend, 
where  the  rapids  rattled  and  the  light  burst  in,  and  the 
birds  sang  their  wildwood  song,  it  was,  to  use  a  simile  of 
Mr.  Bedlow,  like  a  sudden  transition  from  the  cold,  dull- 
lighted  hall,  where  the  gentlemen  hang  their  hats,  into 
the  white  and  golden  saloon,  where  the  music  rings  and 
the  dance  goes  on.  The  hawk,  upon  the  topmost  branch 
of  a  blighted  tree,  moved  not  at  our  approach,  and  the 
veritable  nightingale  ceased  not  her  song,  for  she  made 
day  into  night  in  her  covert  among  the  leaves ;  and  the 
bulbul,  whose  sacred  haunts  we  disturbed  when  the 
current  swept  us  among  the  overhanging  boughs,  but 


104 


THE  HOLY  LA  HD  AND  THE  BIBLE.  [Chap.  XXIX. 


chirruped  her  surprise,  calmly  winged  her  flight  to  another 
sprig,  and  continued  her  interrupted  melodies. 

“Our  course  down  the  stream  was  with  varied  rapidity. 
At  times  we  were  going  at  the  rate  of  from  three  to  four 
knots  an  hour,  and  again  we  would  be  swept  and  hurried 
away,  dashing  and  whirling  onward  with  the  furious  speed 
of  a  torrent.  At  such  moments  there  was  excitement,  for 
we  knew  not  but  that  the  next  turn  of  the  stream  would 
plunge  us  down  some  fearful  cataract,  or  dash  us  on  the 
sharp  rocks  which  might  lurk  beneath  the  surface.  Many 
islands — some  fairy-like,  and  covered  with  a  luxuriant 
vegetation,  others,  mere  sand-banks  and  sedimentary 
deposits,  intercepted  the  course  of  the  river,  but  were 
beautiful  features  in  the  monotony  of  the  shores.  The 
regular  and  almost  unvaried  scene,  of  high  banks  of  al¬ 
luvial  deposit  and  sand-hills  on  the  one  hand,  and  the 
low  shore,  covered  to  the  water’s  edge  with  tamarisk, 
the  willow,  and  the  thick,  high  cane,  would  have  been 
fatiguing  without  the  frequent  occurrence  of  sand-banks 
and  verdant  islands.  High  up  on  the  sand-bluffs,  the 
cliff-swallow  chattered  from  her  nest  in  the  hollow,  or 
darted  about  in  the  bright  sunshine,  in  pursuit  of  the 
gnat  and  the  water-fly.”  1 

1  Lynch,  Narrative,  211 — 215. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

THE  DEAD  SEA. 

How  vast  is  the  interval  between  tlie  present  day  and  tbe 
time  of  tlie  earlier  of  those  events  which  have  given  the 
Dead  Sea  and  the  Jordan  an  interest  so  imperishable  ! 
The  ancient  world  has  passed  away,  and  the  modern  world 
has  grown  old  since  then.  And  yet,  though  the  hosts  of 
Assyria,  Babylon,  Greece,  and  Rome,  the  swift  squadrons 
of  the  Saracens,  and  the  mailed  battalions  of  the  Crusaders, 
who  played  their  part  in  those  remote  events,  have  disap¬ 
peared,  with  all  the  generations  they  represent,  the  Jordan 
still  flows  in  its  bed  as  it  did  on  the  day  when  Joshua  led 
the  Hebrew  tribes  over  it ;  and  the  clear  blue  waters  of  the 
Dead  Sea  fill  the  same  hollow  as  when  they  reflected  the 
lightnings  on  that  dreadful  day  when  fire  and  brimstone 
from  the  Lord  rained  down  from  heaven  on  the  Cities  of 
the  Plain.  The  peaks  and  rounded  tops  of  the  mountains 
of  Moab  and  Judsea  have  been  unchanged  since  the  waters 
of  the  Delude.  Nature  lives,  but  what  a  shadow  is  man, 
and  what  shadows  he  pursues  !  On  that  bank,  yonder, 
stood  John  the  Baptist,  in  his  camel’s-hair  “  abba 1  lean, 
and  fiery-eyed,  like  one  of  the  Bedouins  of  to-day  ;  full  of 
glowing  zeal  to  prepare  his  nation  for  the  expected 
Messiah.  Round  him  stood  a  crowd  of  men,  of  all 
classes,  baptised  and  not  yet  baptised,  in  whose  faces  one 
could  read  the  intense  longing  of  their  hearts.  Sighing 


1  Matt.  iii.  4. 


106 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


for  a  Redeemer  who  should  deliver  them  from  the  deep 
misery  of  the  times  and  the  still  deeper  misery  of  sin, 
they  little  dreamed  that  He  stood  unrecognised  in  their 
midst.1 

I  did  not  bathe  in  the  Jordan,  but  others  did  so, 
though  it  is  not  very  easy  of  approach.  In  one  place 
reeds  and  rushes  stood  in  the  way1,  at  another,  a  bed  of 
deep  mud  bars  access,  especially  in  the  little  bends  ;  at  a 
third,  the  hank  was  so  steep  that  one  could  not  get  down 
to  the  water.  The  ride  to  the  Dead  Sea  from  Beth-Hoglah 
varies  in  features  as  one  is  near  the  river  or  at  a  short 
distance  from  it.  The  bushy  terrace  at  the  side  of  the 
stream  is,  as  I  have  said,  far  below  the  upper  banks,  and  more 
than  twenty  feet  lower  than  this  the  water  flows  between 
upright  sides,  with  constant  twists  and  turnings.  Leaving 
the  banks,  the  soil  was  soft  and  earthy,  with  numerous 
furrows  and  seams  left  by  the  rains ;  but  no  vegetation 
was  to  be  seen  as  we  came  nearer  the  Dead  Sea,  except  in 
the  beds  of  small  flat  wadys,  which  had  a  sprinkling  of 
stunted  herbage. 

Close  to  the  sea,  the  view  was  a  little  more  kindly, 
herbage  of  different  sorts  and  small  flowers  dotting  the 
ground,  in  some  places  almost  to  the  edge  of  the  water. 
The  northern  bank  rises  only  a  few  feet  above  the  lake, 
and  small  waves  played,  in  slow  dimples  and  murmurs, 
against  the  level  strand.  For  the  most  part,  however,  the 
shore  was  a  shingly  slope  of  about  fifteen  feet,  strewn  with 
a  large  quantity  of  driftwood,  crusted  over  with  the  salt  of 
the  water.  As  a  whole,  the  north  shore  is  barren  and 
treeless,  with  a  delta  of  soft  mud  and  marsh,  from  which 
spring  a  few  rushes.  In  some  places,  the  rocks  come 
very  near  the  water,  and  the  beach  is  strewn  with  huge 
boulders  and  stones,  fallen  from  the  cliffs.  No  one  could 

1  Matt.  iii.  1. 


XXX.] 


THE  DEAD  SEA. 


107 


cross  the  Jordan  just  where  it  enters  the  lake,  soft  mud 
flats,  with  plentiful  driftwood  embedded  in  them,  forbidding 
the  passage  of  either  man  or  beast.  The  view  around  was 
very  fine.  East  and  west,  lofty  ridges  seemed  to  spring 
from  the  water,  their  fronts  cut  into  deep  clefts  by  the 
winter  torrents.  Near  at  hand  was  a  small  island  composed 
entirely  of  stones.  One  would  not  have  supposed  that  the 
beautifully  clear  water  was  impregnated  with  salt  to  the 
extent'  of  no  less  than  from  twenty-four  to  twenty-six  per 
cent,  of  its  weight ;  seven  per  cent,  of  this  being  common 
salt,  while  the  rest  consists  of  the  salts  of  various  metals. 
The  lake  stretched  away  to  the  south  in  placid  beauty,  be¬ 
tween  its  yellow  mountain  hanks,  under  the  deep-blue  sky, 
itself  almost  as  blue.  It  is  forty-six  miles  long,  and  ten 
miles  broad  where  widest.  Two  or  three  friends  ventured 
to  bathe,  and  those  who  did  so  seemed  to  enjoy  it,  though 
it  was  necessary  to  rub  the  skin  and  hair  well  on  coming 
out,  as  otherwise  small  crystals  of  salt  were  formed  when 
the  water  dried,  and  an  oily  feeling  was  left  on  the  body. 
To  open  the  mouth  when  swimming  ensures  a  gulp  of 
water  more  bitter  than  agreeable,  almost  taking  away  the 
breath  by  its  taste.  To  float,  it  is  only  necessary  to  lie 
back  ;  you  cannot  sink.  Cloths  wetted  with  the  water 
seemed,  when  dry,  to  have  been  dipped  in  some  oily  fluid, 
but  no  evil  consequences  follow  a  bathe,  beyond  swollen 
and  chapped  lips.  The  saltness  may  be  imagined  from 
the  fact  that  drops  falling  on  one’s  clothes  leave  a  white 
mark  behind  on  drying,  as  if  wax  had  fallen  on  them 
instead  of  water. 

It  is  a  mistake  to  think  that  there  is  no  life 
round  the  sea,  though  there  is  certainly  none  in  it.  Fish 
brought  down  by  the  Jordan  die  on  entering  the  lake, 
and  there  are  no  shell-fish ;  but  the  oases,  here  and  there 
on  both  sides,  are  filled  with  life  of  all  forms,  nor  is 


108 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap, 


it  unfrequent  to  see  divers  and  ducks  flying  over  the  " 
waters  or  swimming  joyfully  on  their  bosom.  The  basin 
of  the  lake  is  a  huge  cup  or  bowl,  sinking  nine  hundred 
feet  sheer  down  close  to  the  Moab  shore,  and  in  its 
deepest  part  1,310  feet  below  the  surface  of  the  water, 
which  makes  it  in  its  darkest  depths  nearly  four  thous¬ 
and  feet  below  the  streets  of  Jerusalem.  The  southern 
part,  however,  is  -  a  mere  flat,  covered  with  about  twelve 
feet  of  water,  and  in  great  measure  divided  from  the 
deeper  portion  by  a  tongue  of  land,  which  runs  out  from 
the  eastern  shore.  Besides  the  Jordan,  which  pours  into 
it  about  six  million  tons  of  water  daily,  the  lake  receives 
the  flow  of  three  permanent  streams  on  its  eastern  side, 
one  of  them  the  Arnon  of  the  Bible.  There  is,  besides,  a 
tributary  stream  on  the  south,  and  another,  that  at 
Engedi,  on  the  west.  These  vary  in  their  force,  hut 
always  flow  more  or  less  strongly.  The  ravines,  more¬ 
over,  become  torrent  beds  after  the  rains,  and,  together, 
must  pour  a  large  quantity  of  water  into  the  lake  in 
winter.  There  are,  besides,  many  springs,  fresh,  warm,  or 
salt,  which  run  into  it,  all  helping  to  increase  its  volume, 
for  it  has  no  outlet.  Yet,  notwithstanding  this  huge 
accumulation  of  water,  the  level  of  the  lake  in  winter  is 
only  a  few  feet  above  its  height  in  summer;  not  more, 
apparently,  in  the  wettest  years,  than  fifteen  feet.1  This 
is  enough,  however,  to  cover  several  miles  of  the  low, 
sloping  shallow  at  the  south  which  are  bare  in  summer, 
the  water  apparently  extending  sometimes  even  eight  to 
ten  miles  farther  in  the  one  season  than  in  the  other. 

That  the  sea  does  not  fill  up  the  framework  of  hills 
and  wadys  around  it  with  a  spreading  and  accumulating 

1  Canon  Tristram  thinks  the  rise  and  fall  not  more  than  four  feet  (Piet. 
Pal.,  i.  157).  Dr.  Robinson  and  others  estimate  it  as  in  the  text.  The 
Survey  Party  found  it  in  1874  to  be  fifteen  feet. 


XXX.] 


THE  DEAD  SEA. 


109 


flood,  is  due  solely  to  the  great  evaporation,  at  a  depth  so 
far  below  the  level  of  the  sea.  Shut  in  by  hills  on  all 
sides  from  any  cooling  breezes,  the  tropical  heat  of  the 
“  ghor  ”  raises  from  the  surface  of  the  lake  a  greater 
amount  of  water,  in  vapour,  than  is  poured  into  it  from 
the  Jordan  and  all  other  sources. 1  A  thick  mist,  from 
this  cause,  lies  over  the  surface  when  the  sun  is  under 
the  horizon,  and  the  air  is  at  all  times  full  of  steaming 
moisture.  It  is  the  constant  separation  from  the  lake 
of  vast  quantities  of  absolutely  fresh  water,  all  saline 
particles  being  left  behind,  that  causes  the  exceeding  salt¬ 
ness  of  what  remains,  just  as  in  the  case  of  the  Salt  Lake 
of  Utah.  Saline  particles,  moreover,  are  being  constantly 
poured  into  it  from  the  tributaries  of  the  Jordan,  and 
there  are,  besides,  several  small  streams  which  flow  into 
it  at  its  south  end  from  a  vast  salt  deposit  that  rises  into 
a  series  of  low  hills  several  miles  long,  and  which  bring 
constant  additions  of  brine.  Yet,  wherever  a  stream  of 
fresh  water  flows,  the  warmth  an  I  moisture,  together, 
create  charming  nooks,  where  the  palm-tree  grows  almost 
to  the  edge  of  the  lake. 

The  extraordinary  depth  of  the  water  on  the  eastern 
side — nine  hundred  feet,  perpendicular,  from  the  shore — 
is  due  to  the  great  geological  convulsions  that  formed 
the  whole  Jordan  valley  as  it  at  present  exists.  At 
some  epoch  very  remote,  though  comparatively  recent 
in  geological  chronology,  the  present  bed  of  the  valley, 
through  its  whole  length,  from  Beisan  to  the  watershed 

1  It  lias  been  calculated  that  while  the  average  quantity  of  water  received 
daily  by  the  Dead  Sea  cannot  be  more  than  20,000,000  cubic  feet,  the  evapora¬ 
tion  may  be  taken  at  24,000,000  cubic  feet  daily.  Journal  fur  Praht.  Chemie, 
Leipzig,  1849,  371.  In  apparent  contradiction  to  this,  however,  the  Arabs 
say  that  the  lake  is  now  deeper  than  it  was  fifty  years  ago,  fords  once  pass¬ 
able  on  donkeys  being  no  longor  so.  These  fords  are  at  the  shallow, 
southern  end. 


110 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


between  it  and  the  Red  Sea,  and  even  further  north  and 
south,  must  have  sunk  by  a  sudden  and  tremendous 
cleaving  of  the  whole  crust  of  the  earth,  the  crack  running 
along  the  eastern  edge.  The  rocks  corresponding' to  those 
that  now  form  that  side  were  buried,  on  the  western  side, 
in  the  chasm,  so  that  they  have  disappeared.  Hence,  on 
the  east  we  have  lofty  hills  consisting,  at  the  base,  of 
sandstone,  on  which  rest  beds  of  hard  limestone  ;  while 
at  the  south-western  end  of  the  lake  the  limestone  is 
wanting,  and  beds  of  rock-salt  tower  up,  apparently  over 
the  sandstone.  These  speak  of  distant  geological  eras, 
but  on  the  west  side  we  have,  instead  of  them,  approxim¬ 
ately  recent  soft  beds  of  chalk  and  allied  rocks,  broken 
and  dislocated  from  west  to  east,  and  often  strangely 
twisted.  The  fact  that  these  strata  slope  to  the  east, 
and  the  cracks  and  shifting  of  level  at  different  places, 
prove  that  the}^  must  have  been  deposited  before  the 
great  cleavage  took  place,  while  beds  rich  in  fossils 
lying  above  them  show  the  tremendous  height  of  the 
waters  in  those  early  days.  The  lake  must,  till  that  time, 
have  stood  nearly  fourteen  hundred  feet  higher  than  it 
does  at  present, 1  so  that  it  must  have  extended  from 
Lebanon  to  the  Akabah  ridge  north  of  the  Red  Sea — a 
length  of  nearly  two  hundred  miles  from  north  to  south. 
Its  shrinking,  however,  was  very  gradual,  for,  as  we  shall 
see,  there  are  raised  beach  terraces  of  various  heights 
above  the  present  level. 

This  strange  difference  in  the  state  of  things  in  Pales¬ 
tine  in  these  remote  ages  is  in  part  explained  by  the 
fact  that  for  a  very  long  period  the  country  was  very 
rainy.  Proofs  of  this  are  found  in  the  remains  of  ancient 
lake-beds,  in  the  existence  of  terraces  left  by  streams  on 
the  hill-sides,  far  above  their  present  level,  and  in  the  great 

1  Hull,  Mount  Seir>  180 — 181. 


XXX.] 


THE  DEAD  SEA. 


Ill 


size  and  width  of  many  valleys  and  gorges,  now  waterless 
except  after  rain-storms.  This  watery  time,  it  is  believed, 
extended  from  the  era  of  the  latest  rocks  in  the  geological 
sj^stem,  through  the  glacial  period,  to  recent  times. 
Perennial  snow  and  glaciers  existed  in  Lebanon  during 
the  Great  Ice  Age,  and  this  probably  gave  Palestine  a 
climate  something  like  that  of  Britain  at  the  present  day, 
involving  an  abundant  rainfall  in  a  country  many  parts 
of  which  are  more  than  two  thousand  feet  above  the  sea. 
And  even  when  the  snows  and  glaciers  of  the  Lebanon 
had  disappeared,  the  rainy  character  of  the  climate  must 
have  only  gradually  passed  away,  so  that  vegetation 
would  be  comparatively  luxuriant  as  late  as  the  period  of 
human  habitation. 1 

Volcanic  action  on  a  great  scale  took  place  in  Palestine 
in  those  remote  ages.  In  Lebanon,  on  the  Sea  of  Galilee, 
in  the  Hauran,  at  different  points  in  the  Jordan  valley, 
and  all  along  both  sides  of  the  Dead  Sea,  rocks  occur 
which  were  poured  forth  as  lava  from  burning  moun¬ 
tains.  These  outbursts  are  of  various  ages,  hut  for  the 
most  part  seem  to  date  from  the  period  when  the  lake 
stretched  as  far  north  as  the  small  lake  Huleh,  the  ancient 
Merom,  and  the  great  glens  of  Moab  and  Western  Pales¬ 
tine  were  so  many  fiords  or  bays.  The  huge  crack  which 
had  dislocated  the  strata  in  the  Jordan  valley,  letting 
down  those  on  the  western  side  to  a  great  depth  below 
their  former  position,  while  those  on  the  eastern  side 
remained  unaffected,  seems  to  have  permitted  the  water, 
then  so  very  deep,  to  force  its  way  into  the  glowing 
abyss,  under  the  thin  solid  crust  of  the  earth,  and  thus  to 
create  a  vast  body  of  vapour,  or  steam,  which  caused  the 
volcanic  explosions,  and  the  outpourings  of  melted  rocks ; 
for  water  is  now  recognised  as  necessary  to  volcanic 

1  Hull,  Mount  Seir,  182. 


112 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


activity.  Or  it  may  have  been  that  the  filtration  of 
water  through  the  bottom  of  the  great  ancient  sea  may 
have  caused  this  vast  dislocation,  or  “  fault.”  The  pres¬ 
sure  of  the  water  diminishing  as  the  inland  sea  shrank 
lower  and  lower  and  the  fissure  through  which  its  waters 
had  filtered  into  the  subterranean  fires  closed  up,  these 
volcanic  forces  gradually  died  out ;  no  signs  of  activity 
being  known  in  the  historical  period,  or,  indeed,  for  ages 
before  it,  though  earthquakes  are  still,  unhappily,  too 
common. 

The  shrinking  of  the  Dead  Sea  to  its  present  size 
wTas,  however,  as  has  been  already  said,  very  gradual.  On 
the  eastern  side,  the  mountains  rise  too  steeply  from  the 
water  to  allow  traces  of  ancient  beaches  to  have  gathered 
on  them,  but  on  the  gentler  western  slopes  the  story  of 
the  subsidence  of  the  waters  is  written  by  their  own  hand, 
if  I  may  say  so,  as  far  north  as  the  “  Horn  of  Surtabeh,” 
half  way  to  the  Lake  of  Galilee.  Raised  beaches  of 
chalky  marl  and  very  salt  gypsum,  on  which  no  vege¬ 
tation  can  live,  run  along  the  hill-sides,  at  six  hundred, 
four  hundred,  three  hundred,  one  hundred,  seventy,  and 
thirty  feet  above  the  present  level  of  the  waters :  a  long 
pause  in  the  shrinking  up  of  the  lake  intervening  at  each 
of  the  periods  marked  by  these  ancient  coast-lines.  But 
the  present  limits  must  have  been  those  of  the  earliest 
historical  age,  else  the  sites  inhabited  in  the  plain  of  the 
Jordan  in  Joshua’s  day  would  have  been  then  sub¬ 
merged. 

The  great  size  of  the  ravines  and  valleys  at  the  sides 
of  the  lake,  and,  indeed,  throughout  Palestine,  is  less 
astonishing  when  we  notice  the  violence  of  winter  storms, 
even  now,  when  the  rainfall  has  so  greatly  diminished. 
In  the  Wady  Kelt  a  violent  rain  fills  the  upper  and 
narrower  parts  of  the  gorge,  in  half  an  hour,  to  a  depth 


XXX.] 


THE  DEAD  SEA. 


113 


of  from  eight  to  ten  feet,  and  the  lower,  broader  parts,  to 
a  depth  of  three  or  four  feet,  so  that  the  wady  is  at  times 
entirely  dry,  and  at  others  impassable.  The  question, 
however,  often  forced  itself  on  me,  how  there  could  be 
such  a  vast  quantity  of  broken  rock  and  boulders  in  every 
torrent  bed,  and  over  all  the  hill-slopes  throughout  the 
country ;  for  the  whole  land  appears  as  if  it  Were  buried 
beneath  a  universal  rain  of  ballast,  large  and  small. 
There  is'  less  stone  on  the  maritime  plain  than  elsewhere, 
but  all  through  the  hill -country,  from  Beersheba  to 
Baalbek,  it  is  hardly  too  much  to  say  that  you  can  see 
very  little  of  the  soil  for  the  stones  upon  it,  and  that  the 
hills  are  cased  in  a  thick  bed  of  fragments  from  their  own 
surface.  It  does  not  matter  whether  the  mountain,  hill, 
or  cliff  be  of  hard  or  soft  rock ;  its  outer  coat  is  generally 
rotten,  whether  it  be  granite,  basalt,  or  limestone.  The 
sides,  as  you  climb  them,  seem  like  the  rubbish  of  a 
quarry,  even  your  horse  having  difficulty  in  choosing 
where  to  put  his  feet  securely. 

The  explanation  of  this  strange  peculiarity  is  to  be 
found  in  the  heat  of  the  sun.  The  mountains  of  South- 
Equatorial  Africa  are  spoken  of  by  Mr.  Stanley  as 
“  skeletons,”  and  the  splitting  up  of  their  surface,  he 
tells  us,  is  so  extensive,  that  the  cracking  may  be  heard 
as  one  passes  over  them.  It  is  the  same  in  India  and 
in  Palestine.  During  the  day,  the  rays  of  a  nearly 
vertical  sun  raise  the  temperature  of  the  rocks  to  an  ex¬ 
traordinary  degree,  so  that  all  moisture  is  expelled,  and 
the  stone  is  unnaturally  expanded.  After  sunset,  when 
this  excessive  heat  rapidly  passes  off  into  tlm  air,  their 
temperature  is  necessarily  lowered  very  quickly,  till, 
through  the  night,  it  falls  from  90°  Fahrenheit  in  the 
shade,  and  120°  in  the  sun,  to  45°  or  50°.  Benewed  daily, 
this  expansion  and  contraction  splits  up  the  layers  and 


114 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


joints,  all  over  the  surface,  reducing  it  to  a  vast  heap  of 
loose  fragments.  A  heavy  rainstorm  falling  on  these  hare 
stones,  protected  by  no  coating  of  turf  as  in  England, 
completes  the  wreck.  The  deluge  rushes  down  every  hill- 
slope  as  our  storms  pour  down  the  roof  of  a  house,  and 
sweeps  away  the  loosened  rock  with  incredible  violence 
into  the  wadys  and  over  the  plains,  far  and  near,  leaving 
the  hills  clear  for  a  repetition  of  the  same  process  of 
breaking  up  and  subsequent  washing  away.  * 

Perhaps  the  finest  view  of  the  Dead  Sea  is  that  from  the 
lofty  cliffs  on  the  western  side,  where  the  Jordan  enters. 
The  eye  sweeps  southwards  nearly  as  far  as  Engedi.  On 

/ 

the  east,  the  yellowish -red  mountains  of  Moab,  extend¬ 
ing  beyond  the  southern  horizon,  pass  northwards  into 
those  of  Gilead,  which  trend  on,  in  a  sea  of  rounded  tops, 
till  the  view  is  closed.  Light  and  shade  throw  one  part 
into  brightness  and  cover  another  with  purple,  varied  by  the 
deeper  obscurity  of  great  ravines,  like  those  of  the  Callir- 
rhoe  and  the  Arnon.  A  line  of  tall  reeds  fringes  the  plain, 
twelve  hundred  feet  below,  beyond  which  the  lake  lies 
blue  and  shining,  with  the  long  peninsula  of  the  Lisan, 
or  “  Tongue,”  at  the  southern  end,  and  many  small  spits 
of  shore,  sparkling  in  the  light  like  silver.  Nor  is  the 
landscape  less  striking  from  the  shore  itself,  though  in 
some  respects  different.  The  lofty  cliffs  of  the  western 
side,  rising  above  the  long  slope  of  wreck  fallen  from 
them,  and  hiding  them  from  sight  far  up  their  height; 
the  blue  waters  ;  the  rich  verdure  of  every  spot  reached 
by  moisture ;  and  the  bright  colours  of  the  sandstone  on 
the  eastern  shore,  showing  every  colour  but  green,  make 
a  picture  one  can  never  forget. 

The  chalk  hills  on  the  western  side  are  marked  by  the 
presence  of  bitumen  in  them,  both  liquid  and  in  a  solid 
form,  and  in  some  places  by  layers  of  rock-salt.  Between 


XXX.] 


THE  DEAD  SEA. 


115 


the  mouth  of  the  lake  and  Engedi,  indeed,  the  marl  is  so 
strongly  impregnated  with  bitumen  at  some  points  that 
it  burns  like  our  bituminous  shale,  and  a  strong  odour  of 
bitumen  is  given  off  by  the  hills.  The  cliffs  run  alongside 
the  lake  at  a  distance,  in  some  parts,  of  half  a  mile, 
though  they  often  come  very  near  it ;  but  it  is  a  weary  and 
desolate  ride  to  reach  Engedi — now  called  Ain  Jidy — - 
“  the  Kids’  Fountain  ” — half  way  down  the  coast.  About 
three  miles  north  of  it,  however,  a  momentary  break  is 
made  in  the  oppressive  desolation  by  coming  on  strong 
sulphur  springs,  which  bubble  up  from  the  gravel,  at  a 
temperature  of  95°  Fahrenheit,  blackening  the  hands  and 
covering  the  boots  with  yellow  as  you  scoop  out  a  hollow. 
The  temperature  of  the  spring  is  so  high  that  it  raises 
that  of  the  lake,  where  it  flows  into  it,  nearly  twenty  degrees, 
and  one  may  easily  imagine  that  mineral  waters  so  strong, 
and  of  a  kind  so  much  valued  in  different  ailments,  must 
have  been  utilised  for  baths  in  the  prosperous  days  of 
the  country.  Kow,  however,  the  water  runs  to  waste.  A 
very  rough  track,  or  rather  scramble  without  a  track, 
brings  one  to  the  plain  of  Engedi,  which  slopes  upwards 
from  the  lake  to  the  foot  of  the  cliffs,  about  half  a  mile 
behind.  Two  small  streamlets  cross  it,  but  neither  is 
the  true  Engedi,  which  springs  down  the  cliffs  in  silver 
threads  from  its  fountain  some  hundreds  of  feet  up  the 
hill-side.  In  the  centre  of  the  plain,  which  is  about  a 
mile  and  a  half  from  north  to  south,  but  of  no  great 
width,  are  some  ruins  built  of  square  stones,  not  very 
large,  and  much  eaten  into  by  time  :  all  that  remains  of 
the  old-world  city  of  Hazazon-Tamar — “  the  Felling  of 
the  Palm,”  “  which  is  Engedi.”1  Thousands  of  years  ago 
a  town  stood  here,  when  Abraham  was  a  wanderer  in  the 
land,  and  Lot  dwelt  in  Sodom,  and  it  was  near  it  that  the 

i  2 


1  2  Cliron.  xx.  2. 


116 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


petty  kings  of  Sodom  and  G-omorrah,  with  their  allies, 
attacked  the  host  under  Chedorlaomer,  as  it  returned 
laden  with  the  spoils  of  the  Negeb  and  descended  to  the 
Salt  Sea  by  the  precipitous  path  which  still  leads  to  this 
spot  from  the  lofty  table-land  above.1  It  was  in  the  nu¬ 
merous  caverns  on  the  face  of  the  precipice  of  Engedi  that 
David  hid  himself  when  Saul  took  with  him  “three  thous¬ 
and  men,  and  went  to  seek  him  and  his  men,  upon  the  rocks 
of  the  wild  goats/’  Still  later,  it  was  up  the  steep  path 
on  the  face  of  these  rocks  that  the  forces  of  Moab  and 
Ammon  climbed  to  invade  Judah,  though  their  confidence 
was  turned  into  panic  by  a  battle  among  themselves 
in  the  Valley  of  Berachah.2  Strange  to  say,  this  is  the 
very  route  still  taken  by  any  band  from  Moah  desirous  of 
making  a  raid  on  Southern  Palestine.  Passing  round  the 
south  of  the  Dead  Sea,  they  make  for  Engedi,  and  then 
mount  to  the  table-land,  twelve  hundred  feet  above  the 
lake,  as  their  best  road  to  Hebron,  Tekoa,  or  Jerusalem, 
whichever  they  may  think  most  likely  to  yield  plunder. 

The  plain  is  now  desolate,  though  once  famous  for  its 
palm  groves,  and  the  slopes  behind  it,  once  a  proverb  for 
their  vineyards,3  know  nothing  of  them  now,  though  the 
terraces  on  which  they  grew  are  still  to  be  seen,  step  above 
step,  up  all  the  hills  around,  as  high  as  the  Fountain.  But 
the  henna  shrub  in  those  vineyards,  to  which  the  Beloved 
is  compared,  is  still  found  on  this  spot ;  in  vivid  illustra¬ 
tion  of  the  sacred  text.  For  it  is  not  “  a  cluster  of  cam- 
phire,”  but  of  henna,  which  the  Hebrew  poet  introduces  ; 
a  plant  eight  or  ten  feet  high,  with  clusters  of  yellow  and 
white  blossoms,  highly  esteemed  for  their  fragrance.  A 
paste,  moreover,  is  made  from  its  pounded  leaves,  and 
used  by  women  of  every  class,  and  by  rich  or  luxurious 
men,  to  dye  the  palms  of  the  hands,  the  soles  of  the  feet, 

1  Gen.  xiv.  7.  2  2  Cliron.  xx.  2.  3  Cant.  i.  14 ;  iv.  13. 


XXX.] 


THE  DEAD  SEA. 


117 


and  tlie  nails,  which  it  makes  of  a  reddish  colour.  Instead 
of  palms  and  vines,  there  are  only  a  few  acacia-trees,  a 
tamarisk,  a  few  hushes,  and,  now  and  then,  the  “  osher  ” 
of  the  Arab,  which  is  the  true  apple  of  Sodom.1  A  very 
tropical-looking  plant,  its  fruit  is  like  a  large  smooth 
apple,  or  orange,  and  hangs  in  clusters  of  three  or  four 
together.  When  ripe,  it  is  yellow,  and  looks  fair  and 
attractive,  and  is  soft  to  the  touch,  but  if  pressed,  it 
bursts  with  a  crack,  and  only  the  broken  shell  and  a  row 
of  small  seeds  in  a  half-open  pod,  with  a  few  dry  filaments, 
remain  in  the  hand.  Close  round  the  Fountain,  and  on 
the  edge  of  the  two  springs  north  and  south  of  it,  Engedi 
can  be  seen  at  the  best,  and  even  then  the  reeds  and 
verdure  that  line  the  course  of  the  springs  are  not  visible 
till  one  reaches  their  sunken  beds. 

The  Fountain  itself  gushes  from  under  the  rock,  high 
up  on  the  slope  of  the  cliff,  at  a  temperature  of  79° 
Fahrenheit,  and  broadening  out  over  a  patch  of  gravelly 
sand,  presently  begins  its  course  down -hill,  marked,  as  it 
descends,  by  a  winding  fringe  of  green,  till  it  is  lost  in  the 
soil  beyond.  Freshwater  crabs,  and  some  other  small  shell¬ 
fish,  are  the  only  living  creatures  found  in  its  basin.  Traffic 
is  still  carried  on  by  the  path  climbing  past  the  Fountain ; 
salt  being  thus  carried  from  the  south  of  the  lake  to 
Bethlehem  on  files  of  donkeys,  by  Arabs  who  wisely 
travel  well  armed,  to  guard  against  the  dangers  of  the 
route.  There  are  still  many  wild  goats  on  the  face  of  the 
lofty  cliffs,  but  pursuit  of  them  is  hopeless,  except  for  a 
hunter  accustomed  to  perilous  work  in  such  places.  North 
of  the  Fountain  is  found  the  source  of  the  spring  seen  on 
the  plain  below ;  a  very  delight  for  its  rich  luxuriance  of 
all  kinds  of  foliage.  In  long-past  ages,  a  spot  like  this, 
utilised  as  it  would  be,  must  have  been  thought  a  very 

1  See  ante,  p.  74. 


118 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


paradise  in  such  surroundings.  Could  it  be  that  this 
delightful  nook,  concealed  within  almost  impenetrable 
jungle,  was  known  to  David  when  he  hid  in  this  neigh¬ 
bourhood  ?  No  place  could  be  conceived  more  suited  for 
a  soul  like  his,  so  full  of  poetry  and  devotion.  Who  can 
tell  but  that  some  of  his  sacred  lyrics  may  have  been 
prompted  by  its  inspirations  ? 

From  the  Fountain  to  the  top  of  the  mountains  the 
path  is  almost  a  ladder,  impassable  to  any  horse  or  other 
beast  of  burden  not  used  to  such  terrible  climbing.  To 
have  ascended  it,  the  Moabites  and  Ammonites  must 
have  had  little  to  carry,  for  it  is  hard  enough  for  man  or 
beast  to  get  up,  even  almost  unencumbered. 

The  Cities  of  the  Plain  stood  on  some  part  of  the  plain 
of  Jericho,  which  in  Abraham’s  day  was  much  the  same 
as  it  is  now.  The  shape  of  the  basin  of  the  sea,  and  its 
geological  history,  make  it  impossible  that  any  towns 
could  have  existed  except  at  its  northern  or  southern  end, 
but  those  which  perished  are  expressly  called  the  Cities  of 
the  Plain ,  or  “  Circle  ”  of  the  Jordan  ;  an  expression  used 
only  of  the  slopes  reaching,  on  both  sides,  from  the  hills 
to  the  river,  immediately  before  it  enters  the  lake. 
Abraham  and  Lot,  moreover,  could  see  the  fertile  region 
of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  from  the  hill-top  on  which  they 
stood,  between  Bethel  and  Ai,  but  intervening  hills  shut 
out  the  southern  end  of  the  sea,  which  is  sixty  miles  off, 
from  any  point  near  that  from  which  the  patriarchs  looked 
down  into  the  great  depression,  while  they  could  see  the 
plain  of  Jericho  and  the  rich  green  of  the  Sultan’s  Spring, 
as  if  at  their  feet.  Nor  could  Abraham,  as  he  stood  at 
his  tent  door  at  Mamre,  have  seen,  as  he  did,  “  the  smoke 
of  the  country  rising  like  the  smoke  of  a  furnace,”  as  he 
looked  “towards  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,”  had  they  been  at 
the  south  end  of  the  lake ;  whereas  the  openings  between 


XXX.] 


THE  DEAD  SEA. 


119 


the  hills  are  such  that,  though  the  plain  itself  is  not 
visible  from  near  Hebron,  the  clouds  of  smoke  ascending 
from  the  doomed  cities  must  have  been  seen  in  all  their 
grandeur.  That  Chedorlaomer,  on  his  way  north  from 
Mount  Seir,  after  smiting  the  Amorites  at  Engedi,  should 
have  fallen  upon  the  kings  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  in 
the  plains  of  Siddim,  continuing  his  march  northwards 
towards  home  after  defeating  them,  so  that  in  his  turn 
he  was  overcome  by  Abraham  near  the  sources  of  the 
Jordan,  further  implies  that  the  Cities  of  the  Plain  were 
north  of  the  Head  Sea.  Still  more,  the  fact  that  Moses, 
from  his  lofty  outlook  on  Mount  Pisgah,  “  beheld  the 
Negeb  and  the  plain  of  the  valley  of  Jericho,  the  city  of 
palm-trees,  unto  Zoar,”  requires  that  this  landscape  should 
have  been  that  of  the  northern  end  of  the  sea,  for  the 
other  end  cannot  be  seen  from  the  neighbourhood  from 
which  Moses  surveyed  the  landscape.  Sodom  and  Go¬ 
morrah  must  therefore,  apparently,  have  stood  either  on 
the  eastern  or  western  side  of  the  Jordan,  just  above  the 
lake;  probably  on  the  eastern.  Both  sides  of  the  river  are 
remarkable  for  the  number  of  mounds  which  dot  them — 
silent  monuments  of  ancient  towns  or  cities,  for  excavations 
in  any  of  them  bring  to  light  fragments  of  pottery,  and 
burnt  or  sun-dried  bricks,  and  even  fragments  of  pillars, 
and  stones  squared  by  the  mason.  In  all  probability, 
some  of  these  indicate  the  true  sites  of  the  long-lost  cities. 

There  is  no  reason,  from  the  language  of  Scripture,  to 
think  of  these  cities  as  submerged,  nor  is  the  mode  of  their 
destruction  difficult  to  understand.  The  whole  region  is 
full  of  the  materials  for  such  a  catastrophe  as  overtook 
them.  Wells  of  liquid  bitumen,  or,  as  we  may  call  it, 
petroleum,  abounded  in  the  neighbourhood,  and  vast 
quantities  of  it  ooze  through  the  chalky  rocks,  while  the 
bottom  of  the  lake  is  bedded  with  it,  vast  masses  rising  to 


120 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


the  surface  after  any  convulsion,  as  in  the  case  of  the  great 
earthquake  of  1837.  Indeed,  huge  cakes  float  up,  at 
times,  even  when  there  is  no  seismal  disturbance,  and  are 
seized  by  the  Bedouins,  who  carry  what  they  can  gather 
to  Jerusalem  for  sale.  Sulphur  abounds,  in  layers  and 
fragments,  over  the  plains  and  along  the  shores  of  the 
lake.  We  have  only,  therefore,  to  imagine  a  terrific 
storm,  in  which  the  lightning  kindled  this  vast  accumula¬ 
tion  of  combustibles,  aided,  perhaps,  by  an  earthquake 
setting  free  additional  stores  from  the  hill-sides  and  the 
lake  depths,  fo  have  a  conflagration,  the  fiery  sulphurous 
sparks  and  flames  of  which  would  in  very  deed  be  fire 
and  brimstone  out  of  heaven,  burning  up  the  whole  dis¬ 
trict,  with  all  the  towns  or  cities  on  it.  The  .fullest  and 
only  reliable  account  of  this  stupendous  judgment  is  that 
given  in  Scripture,  but  it  is  the  subject  of  local  traditions, 
and  ancient  Assyria  has  left  us  a  striking  legend  which 
seems  to  have  sprung  from  it.1 

No  one  appears  to  have  passed  along  the  eastern  shore 
of  the  lake  since  the  famous  traveller  Seetzen  did  so,  in 
1807.  The  whole  journey  is  over  a  region  in  vivid  keep¬ 
ing  with  the  story  of  the  destruction  of  the  doomed  cities. 
It  was  only  with  the  greatest  difficulty  that  any  progress 
could  be  made,  so  rough  and  almost  impassable  was  the 
track.  The  rocks  stand  up  in  a  succession  of  huge 
terraces,  on  the  lowest  of  which,  but  still  far  above  the 
water,  lies  the  path,  if  path  it  can  be  called  which  leaves 
one  to  climb  and  force  himself  through  and  over  a  chaos 
of  enormous  blocks  of  limestone,  sandstone,  and  basalt, 
fallen  from  the  cliffs  above,  or  brings  him  abruptly  to  a 
stand  before  wild  clefts  in  the  solid  walls  of  the  precipice. 
The  range  of  salt  hills  at  the  south,  known  as  Jehel 
Usdum,  is  no  less  worthy  of  its  place  as  a  boundary  of  the 

1  Goikio,  Hours  with  the  Bible,  i.  392. 


XXX.] 


THE  DEAD  SEA. 


121 


Sea  of  Death.  Mr.  Holman  Hunt  resided  here  for 
several  days  in  1854,  and  has  given  us  in  his  terrible 
picture  of  “The  Scapegoat”  an  embodiment  of  the  land¬ 
scape  of  that  portion  of  the  Head  Sea  at  sunset ;  a  vision 
of  the  most  appalling  desolation.  The  salt  hills  run  for 
several  miles  nearly  east  and  west,  at  a  height  of  from 
three  hundred  to  four  hundred  feet,  level  atop,  and  not  very 
broad  the  mass  being  a  body  of  rock-salt,  capped  with  a 
bed  of  gypsum  and  chalk.  Dislocated,  shattered,  furrowed 
into  deep  clefts  by  the  rains,  or  standing  out  in  narrow, 
ragged  buttresses,  they  add  to  the  weird  associations  of  all 
around.  Here  and  there,  harder  portions  of  the  salt, 
withstanding  the  weather  while  all  around  them  melts 
and  wears  off,  rise  up  as  isolated  pillars,  one  of  which 
bears,  among  the  Arabs,  the  name  of  Lot’s  wife.1  In 
front  of  the  ridge,  the  ground  is  strewn  with  lumps  and 
masses  of  salt,  through,  which  streamlets  of  brine  run 
across  the  long  muddy  flat  towards  the  beach,  which 
itself  sparkles  in  the  sun  with  a  crust  of  salt,  shining  as  if 
the  earth  had  been  sown  with  diamonds.  Everywhere, 
except  at  the  very  few  spots  where  fresh  springs,  or 
streams,  enter  it,  the  lake  deserves  the  evil  name  it  has 
borne  for  ages.  The  stillness  of  death  reigns.  Here  and 
there,  indeed,  birds  sing  and  twitter  on  its  banks,  and  in 
favoured  spots  rich  vegetation  covers  the  rocks;  Bedouins, 
pilgrims,  and  travellers  visit  its  shores ;  hut  these  gleams 
of  life  only  deepen  the  impression  of  its  unutterable  lone¬ 
liness.  In  connection  with  the  awful  story  of  Sodom  and 
Gomorrah,  it  seems  written  over  with  a  curse  and  blighted 
by  the  judgment  of  Heaven,  and  this  seems  to  have  been 
the  feeling  even  in  Bible  times,  for  in  the  blissful  days  of 
the  Messiah,  as  painted  by ’Ezekiel,  the  salt  sea  is  to  give 
place  to  a  wide  expanse  of  living  and  cheerful  waters. 2 

1  Gen.  xix.  26.  2  Ezek.  xlvii.  8. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

MAR  SABA. 


It  would  be  unpardonable  in  anjmne  wlio  visits  tbe 
Jordan  valley  not  to  make  liis  way  to  tlie  strange  old- 
world  monastery  of  Mar  Saba,  named  after  “  Saint  Sabas,” 
wlio  was  born  so  long  ago  as  a.d.  439,  in  Cappadocia,  and 
at  the  age  of  eighteen  turned  hermit  and  founded  this 
monastery  in  the  wild  hills  over  the  Dead  Sea.  The 
easiest  route  to  this  strange  community,  which  offers  such 
a  link  with  early  Christianity,  is  by  a  track  leading  west¬ 
wards  from  the  shore  of  the  Dead  Sea,  up  the  Wady 
Eeshkliah.  It  runs  at  first  across  the  border  of  the  lake, 
through  scattered  weeds  and  gaunt  shrubs,  which  break 
the  utter  barrenness  of  the  undulating  chalky  ground, 
aided  in  some  spots  by  a  few  patches  of  reeds  and  flowers. 
After  little  more  than  a  mile,  these  earth-waves  begin  to 
swell  into  low  hills,  white,  like  the  soil  of  the  plain. 
No  rocks  are  visible,  however,  till  the  mountains  are 
reached,  but  the  scene  around  is  still  very  bare  and  un¬ 
inviting.  Among  the  upper  hills,  grass  shoots  out  here 
and  there  from  the  clefts  of  the  rocks,  as  the  way  con¬ 
tinues  in  successive  easy  upward  and  downward  slopes; 
at  one  time  through  a  narrow  wady,  which  shuts  out  the 
view  except  of  its  rough  sides ;  at  another,  up  the  moun¬ 
tains,  to  a  small  plain  above ;  then,  presently,  down  to  a 
valley;  all  alike  desolate. 

A  little  more  than  a  mile  before  reaching:  Mar  Saba 

o 


Chap.  XXXI.] 


MAR  SABA. 


123 


the  path  leads  to  a  tremendous  gorge,  which  is  part  of 
the  Valley  Kedron,  or,  in  Arabic,  the  Wady  en  Var. 
Perpendicular  precipices  rise  more  than  six  hundred  feet 
above  the  abyss  from  which  they  spring,  but  a  well-built 
road,  guarded  by  a  strong  stone  fence,  leads  one  safely 
high  up  the  west  side  of  the  chasm,  and  brings  the 
monastery  in  sight.  Its  lofty,  massive  towers  are  seen 
clinging  to  the  almost  plumb-line  sides  of  bare  rocks 
rising  up  wildly  above  it,  and  sinking  beneath  it  into 
frightful  depths,  with  great  walls  of  rock,  hundreds  of 
feet  up  and  down,  forming  the  other  side  of  the  wady, 
and  the  only  view  before  the  monks  on  the  eastern  side  of 
the  valley.  Fearful  desolation  and  loneliness  reign  around. 
You  seek  in  vain  for  a  blade  or  leaf  of  green,  to  relieve 
the  bareness  of  the  shattered  and  weathered  rocks.  In 
summer  the  heat  reflected  from  the  naked  precipices  is 
almost  unendurable,  and  in  winter  the  rains  stream  in 
torrents  from  the  heights,  checked  by  no  soil  or  herbage. 

In  an  age  like  the  fifth  century,  when  the  Homan 
Empire  was  breaking  up,  and  the  world  itself  seemed  sink¬ 
ing  into  ruin,  the  craving  after  retirement  from  universal 
commotion  and  storm  drove  multitudes  to  seek  a  retreat 
in  the  loneliest  spots  they  could  find.  Among  these,  few 
could  realise  the  ideal  of  entire  banishment  from  mankind 
more  than  Mar  Saba.  Early  known  from  its  nearness  to 
the  holy  places  of  the  faith,  it  was  natural  that  in 
such  a  troubled  age  it  should  attract  numerous  hermits. 
A  passion  for  desert  life  had  seized  almost  every  earnest 
soul.  Hither,  therefore,  came  an  army  of  eremites,  who 
hewed  out  for  themselves  small  caves  in  these  rocks,  and 
used  them  for  dwellings.  Multitudes  of  such  cells  are  to 
be  seen  on  both  sides  of  the  awful  gorge,  for  there  were 
in  this  part  at  one  time  as  many  as  10,000  of  these  re¬ 
nounces  of  the  world.  From  among  these,  the  anchorite 


124 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


Sabas,  about  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century,  collected  a 
number  who  agreed  to  live  together,  and  thereupon  he 
laid  the  foundation  of  the  cloister  which  bears  his  name. 
Many  storms  have  passed  over  it  in  the  fourteen  centuries 
since  his  day,  for  it  has  often  been  plundered  and  laid 
waste,  and  hundreds  of  monks  have  perished  by  the 
sword  or  spear  of  the  foe.  Indeed,  even  in  this  century 
it  has  been  once  more  surprised  and  plundered  by  a 
Bedouin  horde,  so  that  its  defenceless  loneliness,  in  the 
wild  hills,  has  from  the  earliest  times  made  fortifications 
a  necessity.  The  famous  Emperor  Justinian  contributed 
to  these  a  watch-tower,  which  rises  imposingly  on  the 
north  side  of  the  monastery,  and  still  shows  its  high 
antiquity  by  remnants  of  peculiar  masonry,  though  it  has 
been  in  great  measure  rebuilt,  with  its  connecting  walls, 
within  the  last  fifty  years.  How  the  stones  were  ever 
brought  to  such  a  place,  or  built  up  into  the  castle -like 
wall  which  rises,  step  over  step,  from  the  precipitous 
ab}7ss,  clinging  to  the  nearly  upright  slope  till  it  joins 
the  tower  above  the  monastery,  is  a  mystery.  Fortu¬ 
nately,  such  a  defence  was  needed  only  on  one  side,  for  a 
37awning  chasm  effectually  protects  the  other.  Steps 
cut  out  from  the  dry  torrent  bed  below  lead,  in  one  di¬ 
rection,  to  a  carefully  fortified  postern,  and,  in  another,  to 
the  flat  shelf  above,  from  which  the  tower  rises.  To 
secure  space  for  the  monastery,  huge  buttresses  have 
been  piled  up  on  a  slight  bend  in  the  rocks  and  filFd  in 
behind,  so  that  the  main  buildings  can  rest  against  them. 
Above  this  rise  the  cells  of  the  monks,  clinging  to  the 
mountain,  one  over  the  other,  like  swallows’  nests,  rude 
balconies  of  many  patterns  projecting  from  before  them, 
over  the  dizzy  chasm,  and  forming  a  picture  as  romantic 
as  can  be  imagined. 

To  obtain  admission,  it  is  necessary  to  have  with  you 


XXXI.] 


MAR  SABA. 


125 


an  order  from  the  Greek  monastery  at  Jerusalem,  and 
this  you  must  put  into  a  basket,  let  down  from  the  watch- 
tower  by  the  monk  who  is  on  duty  there  for  the  time.  If, 
after  being  carefully  examined,  it  prove  satisfactory,  a 
little  iron -barred  door  is  opened,  and  you  are  admitted. 
No  Bedouin  or  woman  is  allowed  to  enter  on  any  account, 
but  a  tower  outside  has  been  set  apart  for  their  lodging, 
and  they  are  supplied  with  the  simple  fare  of  the  monks. 
Inside  the  iron  door,  a  second  gate,  at  the  bottom  of  some 
steps,  admits  to  a  second  flight.  At  the  foot  of  this 
we-  reach  a  small  courtyard,  with  a  still  smaller  garden, 
from  which  a  third  flight  of  stairs  leads  to  the  guest- 
chamber.  All  this  masonry,  and,  indeed,  every  part  of 
the  stonework  throughout  the  monastery,  is  admirably 
substantial,  as  if  intended  to  serve  many  generations  of 
inmates.  The  whole  scene  presents  a  confusion  of  small 
courts,  chapels,  churches,  cells,  projecting  windows  or 
terraces,  and  microscopic  gardens,  for  every  spot  that  will 
hold  soil  is  utilised  to  redeem  the  savagery  of  the  land¬ 
scape  by  refreshing  green.  A  solitary  palm  rises  at  the 
very  edge  of  the  monastery  plateau,  waving  over  the 
deeps  below,  and  fig-trees  send  out  their  branches  at  every 
corner.  The  holiest  part  of  the  establishment  is  a  low 
cave  which  has  been  made  into  a  double  chapel,  where 
you  are  shown  the  grave  of  St.  Sabas,  and  the  skulls 
of  some  hundreds  of  monks,  who  are  said  to  have  fallen 
before  the  Persian  invader  Chosroes,  in  the  beginning  of 
the  seventh  century.  East  of  this  cave,  on  the  very 
edge  of  the  abyss,  stands  a  roomy  church,  renovated  of 
late  years  by  the  Emperor  of  Russia,  who  has  fitted  up 
its  interior  richly  with  gold  and  silver,  hut  also  with 
hateful  paintings,  in  the  style  of  the  Greek  Church.  In 
the  tower  over  the  church  are  three  small  bells,  whose 
sound  is  heard  as  far  as  the  west  side  of  the  Dead  Sea, 


12t> 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


where  it  falls  on  the  ear  of  the  Christian  traveller  with 
a  wonderful  impressiveness  in  these  regions  lonely  as 
the  grave.  From  the  terrace  on  the  roof  of  the 
church  yon  look  sheer  down  into  the  awful  depths. 
Underneath  the  church  is  the  cistern  from  which  the 
monks  draw  their  best  water.  The  cave  in  which  St. 
Sabas  lived  and  died  is  also  within  the  walls — a  grotto 
of  two  chambers,  only  fit  for  a  dwelling  to  one  resolute 
in  self-denial.  The  library  of  the  monastery  formerly 
contained  about  a  thousand  manuscripts  in  Greek,  and 
several  of  parts  of  the  Old  Testament,  but  the  monks  are 
not  literary,  and  these  treasures  have  wisely  been  removed 
to  a  monastery  near  Jerusalem.  The  community,  indeed, 
are  profoundly  ignorant,  as  they  well  may  be,  since  they 
attend  seven  services  every  twenty-four  hours,  between  four 
in  the  morning  and  midnight.  They  never  taste  fresh 
meat,  and  eggs  only  on  Sundays ;  a  small  brown  loaf,  some 
cabbage  broth,  some  olives,  an  onion,  half  an  orange,  quarter 
of  a  lemon,  six  figs,  and  half  a  pint  of  weak  wine,  being 
their  daily  allowance  through  the  week.  But  with  all  this 
apparent  self-denial  there  is  no  religious  activity.  The 
monks,  who  are  drawn  from  Turkey,  Greece,  the  Archi¬ 
pelago,  or  Russia,  content  themselves  with  barren  idleness, 
so  far  as  the  advancement  of  their  Church  is  concerned. 

It  is  very  pleasant,  in  such  a  place,  to  see  the  small, 
well-tended  gardens  in  which  these  recluses  cultivate  vege¬ 
tables  and  flowers.  Some  vines,  growing  where  possible, 
form  refreshing  flecks  of  shade  in  the  blinding  sunshine 
by  being  trained  over  rude  frames  of  poles  standing  out 
from  the  doorways  or  walls ;  but  even  with  their  help  there 
is  very  little  shelter  from  the  light  and  heat.  Nor  can  it 
be  easy  for  novices  to  accustom  themselves  to  some  of  the 
cells,  which  are  close  to  the  precipice,  with  no  protection 
before  them,  so  that  even  to  see  their  inmates  sitting  on 


XXXI.] 


MAR  SABA 


127 


places  so  dangerous  makes  one  involuntarily  shudder. 
The  solitary  palm  tells  its  own  tale  of  the  situation,  for  it 
is  secured  with  chains,  to  prevent  its  toppling  into  the 
abyss  below.  The  birds  and  wild  animals  which  frequent 
the  neighbourhood  are  the  only  companions  the  monks  can 
he  said  to  have.  Here  man  and  the  humbler  creatures 
live  on  the  friendliest  footing  with  each  other.  Canon 
Tristram  noticed  a  wolf  which  came  every  evening,  as 
the  bell  tolled  six,  to  get  a  piece  of  bread  dipped  in  oil 
and  dropped  over  the  wall  to  him  by  a  monk  at  that 
hour.  A  whole  pack  of  jackals  also  came  regularly  to  b3 
fed,  and  a  small  troop  of  foxes.  Even  the  timid  grackles, 
which  are  found  only  round  the  Dead  Sea,  perch  in  flocks 
at  Mar  Saba,  catch  berries  as  they  are  thrown  into  the  air 
by  some  recluse,  sit  on  the  shoulders  of  their  human 
friends,  eat  out  of  their  hands,  and  allow  themselves  to  be 
played  with  and  stroked  ;  a  wonderful  illustration  of  the 
power  of  human  love  over  lower  nature,  carrying  one  back 
to  the  old  days  of  Paradise,  or  forward  to  the  Millennium. 

An  evening  at  Mar  Saba  is  an  experience  one  cannot 
forget.  There  are  nearly  always  travellers  of  different 
nationalities  visiting  so  curious  a  place  during  the  season. 
As  they  arrive,  their  tents  are  set  up  in  the  little  glen  on 
the  west,  the  crowd  of  mules  and  horses  attending  them 
being  picketed  before  the  monastery,  which,  for  the  time, 
is  turned  into  a  hospice  on  a  large  scale.  Peasants  offer 
memorials  of  Mar  Saba — sticks,  rosaries,  and  the  like,  at 
wonderfully  low  prices  for  the  locality  ;  Arab  guides,  mule- 
drivers,  Greek  monks,  and  travellers,  perhaps  from  France, 
Germany,  England,  and  America,  talk,  each  in  his  own  lan¬ 
guage,  till  it  seems  like  a  reproduction  of  the  noisy  con¬ 
fusion  of  the  gift  of  tongues.  In  the  refectory,  long 
tables  are  covered  with  pleasant  white  cloths,  and  wax 
candles  in  tasteful  holders  light  up  the  shining  plates  and 


128 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


dark  wine- flasks,  as  in  some  European  inn  of  modest  pre¬ 
tensions.  The  men  connected  with  the  tents  bake  their 
bread  outside  the  cloister,  in  the  hot  ashes  of  the  fires, 
turning  the  dough  carefully  and  often,  that  it  may  not 
burn  ;  just  as  Sarah  did  when  she  “  made  [round]  cakes  on 
the  hearth,”  that  is,  on  the  wood  ashes,  for  the  three  mys¬ 
terious  visitors  to  her  husband’s  tent.1  This  is  the  common 
way  of  preparing  bread  among  Orientals  at  the  present 
day  when  they  are  in  haste  or  on  a  journey,  but  it  has 
been  practised  from  the  earliest  times.  The  bread  baked 
by  the  Israelites  on  the  night  of  their  departure  from 
Egypt  was  made  thus.2  Even  their  manna-bread  seems  to 
have  been  cooked  by  them  under  the  ashes,  into  which  it 
was  put  in  earthenware  dishes.3  The  cake  prepared  for 
Elijah  by  the  widow  of  Sarepta,  and  that  which  he  found 
near  the  “  retem  ”  bush  in  the  wilderness,  were  both  from 
this  primitive  oven.4  Hosea  compares  Ephraim  to  such  a 
cake  burnt,  and  yet  only  half  baked,  because  the  necessary 
turning  had  been  neglected :  °  that  is,  to  interpret  the 
comparison,  scorched  by  the  judgments  of  God,  hut  not 
benefited  by  them,  as  it  would  have  been  if  they  had 
been  rightly  used.  Ezekiel  also  tells  us,  incidentally, 
that  even  in  Babylon  his  countrymen  baked  their  cakes 
of  barley  meal  in  the  same  fashion.6  But  the  entertain¬ 
ment  in  Mar  Saha  must  not  be  supposed  to  be  very  elabor¬ 
ate.  Hospitable  it  certainly  is,  but  it  is  of  course  limited 
to  the  simple  fare  which  the  monks  can  give,  in  a  place  so 
out  of  tlm  world,  and  in  such  an  abstinent  community. 

It  is  hard  to  realise  a  stranger  spot  than  this  lonely 
dwelling  of  men.  Its  huge  flying  buttresses,  castellated 

1  Gen.  xviii.  6.  The  word  “  ugah  ”  means  a  round  cake  of  bread.  The 

Septuagint  and  the  Yulgate  both  translate  the  Hebrew  word  by  “  cakes 
baked  in  the  ashes.”  4  1  Kings  xvii.  13 ;  xix.  6. 

2  Ex.  xii.  39.  5  Hos.  vii.  8 

3  Num.  xi.  8.  6  Ezek.  iv.  12. 


XXXI.] 


MAR  SABA. 


129 


walls,  liigh  towers,  and  steep  ascent  of  churches,  cells,  guest¬ 
house,  and  offices,  hard  to  he  distinguished  from  the  colour 
of  the  rocks  to  which  they  cling ;  the  awful  precipice  of 
nearly  four  hundred  feet,  above  and  below,  aptly  called  the 
Valley  of  Fire,  hare  and  tawny,  and  falling  sheer  down,  as 
if  the  hills  had  been  violently  rent  apart  by  some  terrible 
earthquake, — can  never  be  forgotten.  Nor  is  the  silence 
less  impressive,  for  no  sounds  ever  disturb  it  hut  the  bell¬ 
like  notes  of  the  grackle,  the  howl  of  the  jackal  or  wolf, 
or  the  twittering  of  the  swallow.  The  heat,  moreover,  is 
terrible  in  summer,  for  walls  of  chalk  and  high  ridges 
shut  out  the  refreshing  western  breeze,  and  there  is  no 
cooling  green  to  temper  the  burning  noon  and  soothe  the 
imagination.  Even  in  the  caves  of  the  old  hermits,  so 
numerous  around,  there  is  no  relief,  for  they  seem  hotter 
than  the  open  air.  Yet  this  hideous  desert  has,  from  the 
earliest  times,  even  before  Christianity,  been  a  favourite 
retreat  of  ascetics.  Colonies  of  Essenes  flourished  here  in 
the  time  of  Christ.  Scattered  over  the  land,  more  than 
four  thousand  members  of  this  strange  community  lived 
apart,  in  the  villages  and  even  in  the  towns,  but  their  chief 
settlement  was  in  this  ghastly  “  Wilderness  of  Judaea,” 
fitly  called  in  Scripture  “  Jeshimon  ” — “  The  Solitude.” 
They  lived  together  like  monks,  wearing  a  white  upper 
garment  as  their  distinctive  badge,  and  had  rules  as  strict 
as  those  of  any  modern  cloister ;  indeed,  more  so,  from  their 
supreme  anxiety  to  observe  all  the  ten  thousand  require¬ 
ments  of  the  Rabbinical  law.  In  this  wilderness,  again, 
lived  the  hermit  Banus,  mentioned  by  Josephus,  and  it 
was  in  these  frightful  gorges  that  John  the  Baptist  spent 
his  years  of  meditation  and  prayer,  before  he  made  his 
appearance  on  the  Jordan,  calling  his  nation  to  repentance 
in  preparation  for  the  Messiah. 

The  mountains  of  this  region,  though  still  high  above 


130 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


the  level  of  the  Dead  Sea,  are  very  little  above  that  of  the 
Mediterranean,  and  consequently  are  far  below  the  height 
of  those  to  the  west,  towards  Jerusalem  and  Bethlehem, 
from  which  one  looks  down  on  the  locality  of  Mar  Saba. 
The  stratified  limestone  of  these  loftier  hills  no  longer 
appears  in  the  region  of  the  monastery,  but  instead 
of  it  we  have  a  soft  white  chalk,  worn  by  the  winter 
storms  into  long,  sharp  ridges,  standing  up  high  and 
rough  between  narrow  gorges,  the  bottom  of  which  is 
a  mass  of  stones  and  boulders.  A  thin  sprinkling  of 
grass  and  howlers  softens  this  forbidding  landscape  in 
spring,  but  that  soon  withers,  and  leaves,  for  nearly  the 
whole  year,  only  a  bewilderment  of  strange  knolls,  peaks, 
rugged  spurs,  and  knife-like  ridges,  utterly  treeless  and 
waterless,  to  reflect  the  glare  of  the  sun  from  the  universal 
whiteness.  Behind  the  monastery,  to  the  west,  there  is  a 
wall  of  lofty  hills,  while  to  the  east  a  table-land  of  water- 
worn  marl,  cut  into  innumerable  ridges,  knolls,  peaks, 
ravines,  and  crags,  stretches  slowly  downwards  to  the 
precipices,  twelve  hundred  feet  high,  that  overhang  the 
Dead  Sea. 

Among  the  mountain-tops  to  the  west  of  Mar  Saba, 
the  highest  is  that  of  El  Muntar,  “  The  Watch  Tower,” 
brown  and  barren,  and  marked  by  the  steep  slope,  un¬ 
broken  except  by  precipices,  with  which  it  descends  to 
the  plateau  beneath.  This  hill,  in  Captain  Conder’s 
opinion,  is  famous  as  the  scene  of  a  yearly  peculiarity  of 
great  interest  in  the  old  Jewish  religious  economy. 1 

Moses  had  ordered  the  scapegoat  to  be  led  to  the 
wilderness  and  set  free,  but  one  having  found  its  way 
back  to  Jerusalem  in  later  times,  it  was  felt  that,  to  pre¬ 
vent  the  recurrence  of  an  event  so  ominous,  the  creature 
should  henceforth  be  led  to  the  top  of  a  high  mountain, 

1  Tent  Work  in  Palestine,  155. 


XXXI.] 


MAR  SABA. 


131 


from  whicli  there  was  a  steep  rolling  slope,  and  pushed 
over,  so  that  it  might  be  killed  before  it  reached  the 
bottom.  Sabbath  was  the  day  on  which  it  was  driven 
out  from  Jerusalem,  and  as  the  law  forbidding  a  journey 
of  more  than  two  thousand  cubits  on  that  day  hindered 
the  new  arrangement,  means  were  found  to  evade  it. 
At  the  limit  of  each  legally  permissible  advance,  a  booth 
was  erected  to  represent  the  home  of  the  person  in 
charge  of  the  goat,  and  he  had  thus  only  to  eat  and  drink 
in  it,  however  slightly,  to  be  able  to  flatter  himself  that 
he  was  setting  out  each  time  from  his  own  house  on  a 
lawful  journey.  It  required  ten  such  booths  between  the 
hill  selected  and  the  Temple — a  distance  of  about  six  and 
a  half  miles.  This  distance  is  just  that  of  the  lofty  El 
Muntar,  at  which,  beside  the  old  road  from  Jerusalem,  is 
a  well  called  Suk,  the  name  given  by  the  Hebrews  to  the 
hill  of  the  scapegoat,  while  the  district,  which  they  called 
Hidoodim,  is  still  known  as  Hadeidun. 

It  thus  seems  very  reasonable  to  look  on  this  moun¬ 
tain  as  that  from  the  summit  of  which  a  poor  goat 
was  each  year  hurled  into  the  gorge  far  below,  in  accord¬ 
ance  with  the  letter  of  the  command  that  it  was  to  be  let 
go  into  the  wilderness,1  for  Jeshimon  is  seen  from  the 
top  of  El  Muntar,  sinking,  in  all  its  hideous  desolation,  to 
the  east.  It  was  only  by  a  succession  of  legal  fictions, 
however,  that  the  goat-slayer  could  reach  the  fatal  spot 
on  the  Sabbath,  and  the  casuistry  of  the  Rabbis  could 
stretch  conscience  no  farther.  Having  thrown  the  un¬ 
fortunate  animal  down  the  steep,  the  messenger  fell  back 
on  the  usual  Sabbath-day  law  for  his  return,  and  had  to 
wait  until  sundown,  when  the  Sabbath  was  over,  before 
starting*  again  for  Jerusalem. 

o  o 

The  reputation  of  the  Mar  Saba  monks  does  not 

1  Lev.  xvi.  8 — 10. 

/  2 


132 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE.  [Chap.  XXXI. 


support  tlie  belief  that  either  multiplicity  of  devotional 
services,  or  a  life  of  seclusion  and  external  simplicity,  can 
secure  the  highest  ideal  of  religious  life.  They  are  mostly 
old  men,  but  their  faces  speak  more  of  ignorance,  or  even 
of  evil,  not  seldom  dashed  with  abiding  sadness,  than 
of  lofty  enthusiasm  or  a  noble  striving  for  heaven.  In 
their  long  black  gowns  and  black  hats — like  our  hateful 
stiff  cylinders,  though  with  the  rim  at  the  top  instead  of 
the  bottom — they  seem  almost  dead  while  they  live. 
Hopeless  and  aimless,  they  vegetate  in  their  strange  home, 
half  of  them  unable  to  read  the  manuscripts  in  their 
library,  which  they  nevertheless  carefully  guard  from  the 
eyes  of  heretics.  They  may  neither  smoke  nor  eat  meat 
inside  the  walls,  but  they  manage  occasionally  to  get  raw 
spirits  from  travellers.  Than  theirs,  no  life  could  well  be 
more  pitiable. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

'  TO  EMMAUS  AND  KIEJATH  JEARIM. 

So  many  places  famous  in  the  Bible  lie  near  Jerusalem 
that  it  seemed  best  to  make  a  short  excursion  to  some 
which  were  rather  out  of  the  way,  before  starting  for  the 
north.  Leaving  the  city,  therefore,  by  the  Joppa  Gate,  and 
going  westward,  past  a  number  of  orchards  belonging  to 
Greek  Christians,  a  quarter  of  an  hour  brought  us  to  a 
height  from  which  we  had  our  last  look,  for  the  time,  at 
the  city  of  “the  Great  King.”  It  had  been  raining,  and 
the  way  was  not  only  muddy,  but  crossed  by  large  pools, 
so  that  our  progress  was  neither  rapid  nor  pleasant. 
Thanks  to  the  Christians,  a  fresh  valley  showed  flourishing 
orchards  of  mulberry-trees,  where  a  few  years  ago  all  was 
desolation;  and  in  a  little  side  glen  to  the  right,  we  passed 
a  lofty,  well-built  structure  reared  by  the  Greek  Patriarch, 
through  the  aid  of  Russia,  as  an  upper  school  for  both 
sexes,  and  also  as  a  hospice  for  travellers.  A  monastery 
was  erected  on  the  site  more  than  a  thousand  years  ago, 
in  the  belief  that  the  wood  of  Christ’s  cross  was  hewn 
from  a  tree  on  this  spot,  and  even  that  it  grew  on  the 
grave  of  Adam,  our  Saviour  thus  being  linked  in  the 
most  touching  way,  as  the  second  Adam,  with  the  first. 
From  very  early  times  myriads  of  pilgrims,  accepting  both 
legends,  have  streamed  to  this  Convent  of  the  Holy  Cross 
to  kiss  the  spot  where  the  tree  was  supposed  to  have 
once  stood.  Simple  they  may  be,  but,  let  us  hope,  none 


134 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


the  less  sincere  and  earnestly  humble  in  their  devotion  to 
the  Blessed  One.  The  old  church  is  still  standing,  though 
now  surmounted  by  a  clock-tower  built  in  the  Russian 
style,  which  sounds  out  its  invitation  to  prayer  over  the 
villages  around,  with  little  effect  on  their  Mahommedan 
inhabitants. 

Beyond  the  monastery  the  valley  broadens,  and  is 
varied  by  rounded  heights  and  side  openings.  Ere  long 
the  village  of  Malliah  came  in  sight  on  a  fairly  green 
hill,  nearly  2,500  feet  above  the  sea,  hut  not  very  much 
above  the  surrounding  country.  South  of  it,  Sherafat, 
another  hamlet  of  mud  houses,  crowned  another  height  a 
little  more  elevated — for  here,  as  elsewhere,  the  villages 
are  on  hill-tops,  for  safety.  Gardens  of  roses  cheered  the 
way  from  time  to  time,  and  fine  olive  groves  were  fre¬ 
quent.  The  roses  were  most  numerous  near  a  spring 
called  Yalo,  where  the  wady  was  hemmed  in  by  high, 
steep  walls  of  rock,  about  a  mile  south  from  Malhah.  The 
fountain  bubbles  from  the  southern  side  of  the  glen,  the 
water  flowing  in  a  stone  tunnel,  over  a  low  stone  wall. 
There  were  men,  women,  and  children  at  it,  with  jars  and 
skins,  and  other  women  washing  very  sorry  linen,  singing, 
I  am  glad  to  say,  as  they  beat  it  with  stones.  Near  at 
hand  was  a  rain-pool  with  some  water  in  it,  the  spring 
gliding  past  down  the  glen  on  its  way  to  fructify  gardens. 
Figs  and  olives  covered  the  slope,  over  which  the  rocks 
shot  up  abruptly  to  a  great  height.  The  spot  is  naturally 
a  favourite  watering-place  for  the  flocks  of  the  surrounding 
hills.  The  little  valley  was  green  with  the  spring  crops, 
but  one  could  not  even  here  forget  mortality,  for  tombs, 
cut  in  the  rocks,  preached  their  quiet  sermon  as  we  passed. 
Fertility,  moreover,  was  confined  to  the  spots  reached  by 
the  water,  the  hills  being  wretchedly  barren  and  stony 
where  there  was  none.  This  district  is,  however,  rich  in 


XXXII.] 


TO  EMMAUS  AND  KIRJATH  JEARIM. 


135 


springs,  one — Ain  Hanniyeh,  about  a  mile  beyond  Ain 
Yalo — especially  attracting  attention  by  a  structure  over 
it,  adorned  with  Corinthian  pillars  and  a  niclie.  From 
this  the  waters  flowed  at  a  height  of  about  ten  feet,  in 
del  ightful  fulness,  forming  a  small  pool  below,  from 
which  a  copious  brook  streamed  pleasantly  down  the 
valley.  A  long  wall  ran  along  from  both  sides  of  the 
spring,,  about  twenty  feet  above  the  path,  to  lead  off  water 
to  irrigate  terraces  on  the  slope.  Close  to  each  other,  an 
ass  was  drinking  and  a  woman  filling  her  water-jar  at 
the  pool.  Fig-trees  grew  on  the  banks,  and  were  just 
putting  out  their  leaves  ;  vines  blending  with  them,  as  in 
the  old  Bible  times  when  the  vine  and  the  fig-tree  were 

o 


planted  together.  Tulips,  lilies,  ranunculi,  and  cyclamens 
lighted  up  the  borders  of  the  grain-patches  beside  the 
waters  of  the  fountain,  as  these  flowed  dimpling  on  to 
water  the  gardens  of  the  valley  through  which  the  road 
to  Gaza  ran  in  early  times.  With  this  fact  as  its  ground¬ 
work,  legend  has  very  naturally  created  a  story  of  this 
rich  spring  being  that  at  which  St.  Philip  baptised  the 
eunuch.  But  though  there  is  no  basis  for  such  a  fancy, 
the  road  itself,  which  is  at  this  place  broad,  and  was  once 
well  made,  may  have  been  that  by  which  the  Chamber- 
lain  of  Queen  Candace  rode  homewards  from  Jerusalem.1 

A  slight  descent  leads  from  this  spot  to  the  hamlet  of 
El  Welejeh,  which  lies  in  the  midst  of  cultivated  ground 
high  on  the  western  side  of  a  deep  but  short  valley. 
Shepherds  and  peasants,  with  their  flocks  or  at  their  work, 
enlivened  the  way,  though  our  track  was  again  impeded  by 
the  pools  left  by  the  late  rains.  About  a  mile  beyond 
Welejeh  lay  the  village  of  Bittir,  on  the  south-west,  high 
on  a  slope  pleasantly  banked  with  fine  green  terraces  ;  a 
sparkling  rivulet  flowing  down  from  it  towards  us,  while 


1  Acts  viii.  36 — 39. 


136 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


the  ancient  road  to  Gaza  ran  up  the  hill  through  the 
village  street.  Nothing  could  be  more  inviting  than  this 
quiet  nook,  with  its  richly  irrigated  grain-patches  and 
gardens,  dotted  with  olive-  and  fig-trees,  and  fitted  beyond 
many  for  the  vine  and  mulberry.  We  may  readily  sup¬ 
pose  that  in  ancient  times  its  charms  made  it  attractive, 
but  now  the  hills  around  are  left  to  nature,  are  rough 
with  the  stunted  trees  and  bushes  familiar  in  Palestine, 
and  are  haunted  only  by  birds  and  wild  beasts.  They 
may,  however,  have  been  the  same  in  early  days,  for  the 
sacred  poet  in  Canticles  cries,  “  Turn,  my  beloved,  and 
be  thou  like  a  roe  or  a  young  hart  upon  the  mountains  of 
Betlier.”1  But  there  are  other  memories  of  the  place.  It 
was  the  scene  of  the  final  destruction  of  the  Jewish  power 
in  the  Holy  Land,  by  the  Bomans,  in  the  reign  of  Hadrian. 
Surrounded  on  every  side  except  the  south  by  deep  and 
rugged  gorges,  and  supplied  with  water  by  a  spring  rising 
in  ground  above  it,  Betlier  was  a  position  immensely  strong. 
The  north  side  especially,  with  its  steep  cliffs  springing 
from  the  bottom  of  the  ravine,  was  virtually  impreg¬ 
nable.  At  a  quarter  of  a  mile  to  the  south  of  the  present 
village,  a  shapeless  mass  of  ruin  preserves  the  memory  of 
the  great  struggle,  in  its  name,  Khurbet  el  Yejiud — “  Bum 
of  the  Jews.”  Perhaps  it  is  a  part  of  the  strong  citadel 
of  the  town.  The  leader  in  this  tremendous  struggle2  was 
the  pretended  Messiah,  Bar  Cocliba,  who  had  at  least  the 
merit  of  tenacity,  whatever  his  other  shortcomings.  The 
Babbis,  with  their  usual  exaggeration,  tell  us  that  Bether 
was  so  large  that  it  had  four  hundred  synagogues  and  as 
many  schools,  each  with  four  hundred  children,  but  it  is 
at  least  certain  that  it  was  a  considerable  place,  even  be¬ 
fore  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  and  rose  to  great  prosperity  after 
that  event ;  not,  perhaps,  without  a  secret  comfort  in  the 
1  Cant,  ii.  17.  2  See  Yol.  I.,  p.  91. 


XXXII.] 


TO  EMMAUS  AND  KIBJATH  JEABIM. 


137 


thought  that  the  destruction  of  the  capital  was  the  fortune 
of  the  rival  community.  Rabbi  Akaba,  the  standard- 
bearer  of  Bar  Cochba,  was  taken  prisoner  and  flayed  alive 
when  the  city  fell,  repeating,  as  he  died,  the  grand  words 
of  the  morning  prayer  of  the  Temple,  “Hear,  0  Israel !  the 
Lord  our  God  is  one  Lord.”  Eighty  thousand  men  are 
said  to  have  fallen  when  Hadrian’s  soldiers  rushed  through 
the  breaches  of  the  walls,  and  the  extinction  of  Jewish 
hope  by  the  catastrophe  was  so  complete — for  the  nation 
had  been  decimated  in  the  revolt — that  those  who  had 
hitherto  hailed  the  leader  of  the  insurrection  as  Bar 
Cochba — “  the  Son  of  a  Star” — henceforth  reviled  him  as 
Bar  Cosiba — “the  son  of  a  lie.”1  Bat,  discarding  all 
legendary  matter,  there  is  something  unspeakably  touch¬ 
ing  in  the  presence  of  such  a  memorial  of  the  death  of  an 
ancient  nationality.  For  here,  undoubtedly,  in  the  year 
136  of  our  era — sixty -four  years  after  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem — Israel  fought  its  last  despairing  battle  with  its 
giant  foe,  and  its  last  band  of  heroes  perished  with  their 
leader,  the  Star-son,  after  having  resisted  the  legions  of 
Borne  for  three  years  and  a  half.  It  is  wonderful  how 
little  remains  of  a  place  so  important,  but  there  are  many 
similar  cases  in  the  Holy  Land;  the  common  houses, 
built  only  of  mud,  soon  vanishing,  while  the  cut  stones  of 
public  buildings  or  mansions  have  heen  carried  off  for 
building  material  to  modern  towns. 

It  was  pathetic  in  the  extreme  to  notice  the  frequent 
ruins  in  this  neighbourhood.  Every  hill  had  its  own 
pile,  speaking  of  a  dense  population  in  happier  times, 
ages  ago.  The  stream  from  Bittir  ran  for  a  time  joy¬ 
ously  over  a  broad  bed  down  the  little  valley,  but  ere 
Ions*  sank  below  the  stones  which  filled  its  course.  There 
were  no  signs  of  human  industry  on  the  slopes  or  in  the 

1  Hamburger,  ii.  107. 


138 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


hollow :  all  was  overgrown  with  thorns  and  worthless 
bushes  and  weeds.  The  whole  landscape,  indeed,  was 
now  wild  and  uninhabited.  Nowhere  was  a  village  or 
house  to  he  seen  in  the  glens  and  valleys,  and  a  couple 
of  patches  of  green  on  one  of  the  slopes  were  the  only  sign 
that  human  beings  were  at  all  near.  Rough  bushes  and 
scrub,  mixed  with  beds  of  sage  and  thyme,  dotted  the 
chalky  rocks,  multitudinous  fragments  of  which  covered 
the  path  and  made  progress  far  from  pleasant.  It  is  from 
such  places  in  the  hills  that  the  people  get  their  fagots 
and  charcoal  for  fuel.  There  are  no  trees,  but  only  dwarfed 
brushwood,  netting  the  hill-sides  in  wild  brakes.  The 
smoke  of  charcoal-burners’  fires  frequently  rose,  marking 
one  great  cause  of  the  absence  of  trees,  for  these  c‘  hewers 
of  wood,”  still  poor  landless  creatures  as  of  old,1  do  not 
content  themselves  with  lopping  off  branches,  but  dig  up 
even  the  roots  of  what  wood  there  is. 

Two  miles  and  a  half  west  from  Bittir,  the  village  of 
Er  Ras  broke  the  monotonous  desolation,  though  it  ap¬ 
peared  that  we  had  passed  one  small  mud  hamlet,  on  the 
south,  without  seeing  it.  The  rounded  summits,  all 
alike  grey  and  barren,  were  still  about  2,400  feet  above 
the  sea,  but  valleys  of  all  sizes  ran  in  every  direction 
among  them,  and  the  terraces  on  the  slopes  near  the 
village  showed  that  only  labour  was  needed  to  make 
the  desert  break  into  fruitfulness.  Cattle  and  goats  fed 
on  the  slopes ;  and  in  the  hamlet  old  and  young  gathered 
round  to  look  at  the  rare  sight  of  a  stranger  from 
the  West.  Outside  the  houses,  or  rather  hovels,  was  a 
broad  open  space  covered  with  smooth  sheets  of  rock,  the 
resting-place  of  the  camels,  cattle,  sheep,  and  goats  of  the 
peasants,  as  was  only  too  clear  from  the  difficulty  I  found 
in  getting  a  clean  spot  on  which  to  sit  down.  No  doubt 

1  Dent.  xxix.  11  ;  Josli.  ix.  21,  27. 


XXXII.] 


TO  EMMAUS  AND  KIEJATH  JEARIM. 


139 


sucli  a  wide  stony  platform  is  used  in  autumn  as  a  thresh¬ 
ing  floor,  exposed  as  it  is  to  tlie  free  sweep  of  the  wind. 
Close  to  the  hamlet,  a  miniature  glen  showed  how  strangely 
barrenness  and  fertility  elbow  each  other  in  Palestine. 
Clear  springs  flowed  in  two  places  over  the  rocks  into  the 
hollow,  and  along  their  course  among  the  stones,  hemmed 
in  by  the  yellow  boulders,  were  some  flne  lemon-trees  in 
their  glory  of  green  and  gold,  with  a  number  of  vines  and 
fig-trees,  and  underneath  there  was  a  carpet  of  soft  green. 
In  vivid  contrast  with  this  delightful  spot,  the  hill  south¬ 
west  from  it  rose  utterly  barren  and  desolate,  nothing 
but  thorns  growing  from  amongst  the  stones  with  which 
it  was  thickly  strewn.  Yet  there  had  once  been  a  dense 
population  in  this  region,  for  I  counted  no  fewer  than 
fourteen  heaps  of  ruins  in  the  neighbourhood,  and  when 
these  were  all  inhabited,  even  the  hills  now  washed  so 
hare  of  soil,  from  the  want  of  terraces  to  retain  it,  must 
have  been  more  or  less  fertile. 

Passing  first  west  and  then  north,  the  track  led  up  a 
long  wady,  to  which  a  number  of  carob-trees  lent  a  rare 
charm ;  but  there  were  no  human  habitations  near  them. 
A  spring  flowing  to  the  north  was  the  secret  of  their  pre¬ 
sence,  and,  indeed,  springs  are  numerous  in  all  these 
Judsean  highlands.  They  are,  as  Deuteronomy  says,  “a 
land  of  hills  and  valleys,  that  drinketh  water  of  the  rain  of 
heaven  :  ”  1  a  land,  as  the  Psalmist  tells  us,  in  which  God 
“  sendetli  the  springs  into  valleys,  which  run  among  the 
hills.” 2  But  the  hills  themselves  still  rose  grey  and 
barren  as  ever,  though,  as  the  road  fell  towards  the  next 
village  of  Deir-esli-Sheikh,  there  were  some  grain  and 
bean  patches  in  the  valley,  with  silver -leaved  olives 
rising  beside  them.  The  huts  stand  near  each  other, 
surrounded  by  green,  but  they  were  as  rude  as  others 
1  Deut.  xi.  11.  2  Ps.  civ.  10. 


140 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


elsewhere,  the  smoke  of  the  household  fires,  kindled  in 
some,  having  no  egress  except  by  the  door.  The  houses  of 
the  poor  must  have  been  just  like  this  in  our  Lord’s  day, 
for  if  there  has  been  no  improvement  in  such  matters 
since  He  lived,  there  cannot  well  have  been  any  actual 
retrogression. 

The  Wady  Ismain,  which  is  the  name  of  this  part 
of  the  great  Wady  Surar,  or  Sorek,1  opened  before  us, 
after  an  ascent  of  about  two  hundred  feet  from  Deir-esh- 
Sheikli,  showing  a  stream,  fed  by  the  late  rains,  whirl¬ 
ing  on,  grey  and  brown,  some  hundreds  of  feet  below, 
between  high  walls  of  rock.  Following  this,  though  on 
the  heights  above  it,  a  bend  to  the  south  brought  in 
view  the  village  of  Beit  Atab,  which  crowns  an  isolated 
hill  rising  some  hundreds  of  feet  above  those  around. 
The  ridge  along  which  our  track  lay,  seamed  with  larger 
and  smaller  wadys,  was  a  picture  of  desolation.  Great 
lizards  darted  out  and  in  among  the  stones  :  partridges 
flew  up  from  among  the  bushes  of  Spina  Christi  and  scrub 
of  all  kinds  with  which  the  white  stony  hill  was  thickly 
sprinkled.  A  shepherd  in  one  of  the  wadys  watched  his 
sheep  and  goats,  attended  by  his  dog  ;  mallows  and  other 
plants  on  the  slopes  giving  a  kind  of  thin  pasture. 
About  two  miles  east  of  Deir-esh-Sheikh  lay  the  village 
of  El  Hawa,  on  the  top  of  a  hill  2,100  feet  above  the 
sea,  looking  far  and  wide  over  the  frontier  hills  of  Judah, 
and  down  into  the  great  Philistine  plain.  Descending 
by  very  rough  and  often  steep  tracks,  we  reached  Wady 
Najil,  which  runs  north  and  south  across  the  great 
Wady  Surar.  Hedges  of  prickly  pear  surrounded  the 
gardens  of  Deir  Aban,  a  small  village.  It  was  pleasant 
to  see  Zorali  once  more,  its  sweeping  length  and  broad 
bosom  rich  with  tender  green.  Nearly  the  whole  width 

1  See  Yol.  I.,  p.  98. 


XXXII.] 


TO  EMMAUS  AND  KIRJATH  JEARIM. 


141 


of  tlie  valley  was  covered  wTitli  rising  crops  of  grain, 
through  which  the  almost  dry  bed  of  the  winter  torrent 
twisted,  serpent-like,  hither  and  thither,  in  a  deep  white 
trench,  looking  from  a  distance  like  some  grand  military 
highway.  The  hills  on  the  south  of  the  wady  sloped 
gently  down ;  those  on  the  north  of  it  rose  steep  and 
high.  Shepherds  were  driving  home  numerous  herds  of 
cattle  as  it  drew  near  sunset ;  peasants,  carrying  home 
their  light  ploughs  on  their  backs,  wended  their  way  to 
their  village,  some  of  them  singing  in  their  own  nasal 
manner  as  they  plodded  on.  All  Orientals  seem  to  sing 
thus,  through  the  nose.  Did  David  do  so  ?  Most  likely, 
for  manners  never  change  in  the  East. 

I  was  once  more  on  the  borders  of  Samson’s  country. 
There  were  the  grey  houses  of  Sura,  on  the  steep  hill¬ 
top  where  the  hero  was  born  and  grew  up,  with  the 
great  valley  winding  down  to  the  Shephelah  at  his  feet. 
Bethshemesh,  250  feet  below  it,  lay  on  the  other  side 
of  the  wady,  about  two  miles  off.  It  was  here  that 
King  Amaziah  of  Judah  was  beaten  by  Jehoash,  the 
King  of  the  Ten  Tribes,  who  thus  justified  the  con¬ 
temptuous  message  he  had  sent  his  foolhardy  foe — “The 
thistle  that  was  in  Lebanon  sent  to  the  cedar  that  was  in 
Lebanon,  saying,  Give  thy  daughter  to  my  son  to  wife  : 
and  there  passed  by  a  wild  beast  that  was  in  Lebanon, 
and  trod  down  the  thistle.”1  About  three  miles  rather 
south-east  from  Bethshemesh,  lay  Timnath,  famous  in 
Samson’s  story,2  and  three  miles  and  a  half  due  south 
from  it  was  the  Ashkelon  where  he  slew  the  thirty 
Philistines,  to  get  their  “  abbas,”  in  payment  for  the 
riddle  treacherously  revealed  by  his  Philistine  wife. 3 

Captain  Conder  thinks  he  has  identified  in  this  neigh¬ 
bourhood  another  spot  famous  in  Bible  story,  the  rock 

1  2  Kings  xivr.  8 — 14.  2  Judg.  xiv.  5  11.  3  Judg.  xiv.  19. 


142 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


Etam,  in  a*  cleft  or  cliasm  of  which — not  on  its  “  top  ” — 
Samson  “hid  himself”1  when  hotly  pursued  by  the  Philis¬ 
tines.  The  substitution  of  B  for  M  by  the  modern 
population  of  Palestine,  as  in  Tibneh  for  Timneh — is  so 
common,  that  the  name  Atab — a  hamlet  about  five  miles 
south-west  of  Betlishemesh — is  thought  to  be,  very  prob- 
abhr,  a  corruption  of  Etam,  especially  as  the  locality 
exactly  suits  the  details  of  the  Old  Testament  narrative. 
Etam  means  the  “  Eagle’s  Nest,”  and  this  even  the  village 
might  well  be  called,  as  it  lies  more  than  two  thousand 
feet  above  the  sea.  There  is,  besides,  a  tall  cliff  of  hard 
limestone,  without  a  handful  of  arable  soil  on  it,  rising  up 
from  amidst  three  ravines,  and  marked  by  three  small 
springs  bubbling  from  its  foot.  In  this  hill  there  is  a  long 
narrow  cavern  into  which  Samson  might  naturally  have 
“  gone  down,”  and  which  bears  the  significant  name  of 
Hasuta,  or  “  Befuge,”  the  word  being  Hebrew,  not 
Arabic. 2  It  is  250  feet  long,  eighteen  feet  wide,  and 
five  to  eight  feet  high,  with  its  one  end  under  the 
centre  of  the  modern  village,  and  its  other  within  sixty 
yards  of  the  principal  spring  ;  the  entrance,  here,  being 
by  a  hole  in  the  rock,  ten  feet  deep.  In  such  close 
proximity  to  other  places  associated  with  Samson’s  name, 
such  a  spot  seems  to  have  strong  claims  to  be  added  to 
their  number. 

Half  way  between  Atab  and  Betlishemesh  is  another 
site,  very  interesting,  if  Christian  tradition  dating  .from 
the  fourth  century  can  be  trusted — that  of  Ebenezer, 
where  Samuel  called  back  the  Hebrews  from  their  pursuit 
of  the  Philistines,  and  set  up  a  memorial  stone,  com¬ 
memorating  the  help  vouchsafed  them  by  God.  3  Captain 
Conder  thinks  it  also  probable  that  the  Emmaus  of  the 
New  Testament  has  been  identified  by  him  in  this  district, 

1  *Tudg.  xv.  8.  2  Tent  Worh,  142.  3  1  Sam.  vii.  12. 


XXXII.] 


TO  EMMAUS  AND  KIRJATH  JEARIM. 


143 


in  the  ruin  called  Kliaraasa,  about  three  miles  and  a  half 
south-east  of  Atab.  This  spot  has  certainly  the  advantage 
of  being  nearly  “threescore  furlongs  from  Jerusalem/’  as 
Emmaus  is  said  to  have  been,  both  by  St.  Luke  and 
Josephus,1  and  the  name  is  not  unlike  Emmaus,  if  the 
first  letter  be  dropped.  The  narrow  valley  in  which  the 
ruin  lies  has  copious  springs,  and  gardens  shady  with 
the  dark  green  and  gold  of  orange  and  lemon  trees;  and 
the  remains  of  an  old  Roman  road  from  Jerusalem  passes 
close  by.  On  the  western  slope  stands  a  modern  village,  the 
hill  behind  which  rises  bare  and  rocky,  showing  ancient 
tombs  cut  in  it,  now  used  as  storehouses.  Vespasian, 
when  he  left  Judsea,  settled  eight  hundred  veterans  at 
Emmaus,  and  if  this  were  the  place,  it  must  have  been  a 
grateful  retreat  from  the  dangers  and  exposures  of  war. 

Other  sites,  however,  have  been  regarded  as  having 
claims  to  the  dignity  of  representing  Emmaus.  The 
village  of  Am  was,  for  example,  slightly  north-west  from 
Jerusalem,  has  been  thus  honoured  from  a  very  early 
period,  but  it  is  a  hundred  and  sixty  furlongs  from  Jeru¬ 
salem,  which  would  make  the  journey  to  and  from  it 
on  the  same  day  quite  beyond  the  distance  usually 
walked  at  one  time  by  the  ancient  Jews,  the  two  ways 
making  between  them  no  less  than  forty  miles,  which 
would  require  at  least  sixteen  hours’  walking  at  the 
ordinary  rate  of  the  country.  That  it  is  called  Am  was  is 
no  proof  of  its  claim,  for  the  name  may  easily  have  fol¬ 
lowed  the  erroneous  identification.  “  Emmaus  ”  is  a  cor¬ 
ruption  of  the  ancient  Hebrew  word  “  Hammath,”  implying 
the  presence  of  a  hot  spring,  as  Josephus  notices,  for  he 
says — “  How  Emmaus,  if  it  be  interpreted,  may  be  ren¬ 
dered  ‘  a  warm  bath  ’  useful  for  healing,”  2  and  Am  was  has 

1  Luke  xxiv.  13  ;  Jos.,  Bell.  Jud.  vii.  6,  6. 

2  Jos.,  Bell.  Jud.  iv.  1 — 3  ;  Ant.  xviii.  2,  3. 


144 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


in  its  favour  the  fact  of  having  been  celebrated,  in  early 
Christian  times,  for  its  healing  spring  ;  a  local  feature 
still  perhaps  recognised  in  the  name,  “Well  of  the 
Plague/’  applied  to  a  well  in  the  village.  But  Amwas 
and  Khamasa  may  fairly  claim  equal  nearness  to  the 
Hebrew  “  Hammath,”  so  that  little  rests  on  this  detail. 
But  there  is  a  third  site  for  which  strong  claims  have  been 
urged — the  village  of  Kulonieh,  which  fulfils  the  condition 
of  being  sixty  furlongs  from  Jerusalem.  I  shall  notice  it 
hereafter. 

In  this  region,  so  thickly  sown  with  Scripture  memories, 
the  Palestine  Surveyors  suppose  that  they  have  discovered 
another  site  famous  in  Bible  history — Kirjath  Jearim, 
which  Captain  Conder  identifies  with  a  heap  of  ruins  called 
Khurbet  Erma.1  It  is  about  four  miles  nearly  east  of 
Bethshemesh,  but  a  thousand  feet  higher  above  the  sea. 
Approaching  it  from  the  east,  by  the  great  gorge  which, 
under  different  names,  runs  from  near  Gibeon  to  Beth¬ 
shemesh,  and  ascending  the  slopes  on  which  is  the  little 
ruined  village  of  Deir-esh-Sheikh,  you  see  the  white  bed 
of  a  torrent  far  beneath,  twisting  in  wide  bends  beneath 
steep  hills,  which  rise  fully  a  thousand  feet  above  it.  The 
slopes  on  both  sides  are  stony  and  seamed  with  outcrops 
of  rock,  and  both,  but  especially  the  southern,  are  covered 
with  a  dense  brushwood  of  dwarfed  oak,  hawthorn,  carob, 
and  other  trees,  no  higher  than  well-grown  shrubs ;  every 
vacant  space  adding  to  the  pleasantness  of  the  view  by  a 
carpet  of  thyme,  sage,  and  other  aromatic  plants.  On 
a  bold  spur  running  out  from  the  southern  slope,  and 
marked  by  a  curious  platform  of  rock  which  rises  in  the 
centre,  above  the  olive-trees  round,  lie  the  ruins  of  Erma, 
built  up  against  scarps,  natural  or  artificial.  They  have 
all  the  appearances  of  the  site  of  an  ancient  town,  some  of 

1  Palestine  Memoirs ,  4to,  iii.  43. 


XXXII.] 


TO  EMMAUS  AND  KIRJATH  JEARIM. 


145 


the  walls  showing  traces  of  mortar;  others  being  only  rude 
blocks  piled  on  each  other.  There  is  a  fine  rock-cut  wine¬ 
press  to  the  east,  and  on  the  south  a  great  cistern  covered 
with  a  large  hollowed  stone  which  forms  the  well- mouth, 
and  looks  so  old  and  weathered  that  it  may  easily  have 
lain  there  since  the  time  when  David  came  to  the  town 
to  bring  up  the  Ark  to  Jerusalem.  There  are  also  rude 
caves ;  and  the  ground  is  strewn  with  fragments  of  ancient 
pottery.  The  platform  of  rock,  which  is  fifty  feet  one  way 
and  thirty  the  other,  rises  about  ten  feet  above  the  ground 
at  its  sides,  and  looks  as  if  it  had  been  artificially  levelled  ; 
perhaps  as  the  floor  of  some  ancient  high  place  or  shrine, 
once  enclosed  by  walls,  of  which  some  large  stones  still 
remain,  clinging  to  the  scarped  sides.  Kirjath  Jearim  was 
anciently  known  also  as  Kirjath  Baal : 1  may  this  raised 
floor  have  been  that  of  the  high  place  where  the  Sun- god 
was  worshipped  ?  David  is  said  to  have  found  the  Ark 
“in  Gibeah”-  — the  Hill  or  Knoll:  was  this  smooth  rock 
the  floor  of  the  sanctuary  in  which  it  was  kept  ? 2  Cer¬ 
tainly  it  stands  on  a  knoll,  and  “  the  house  of  Abinadab  ” 
may  have  been  that  of  the  guardian  of  the  holy  place. 
“Erma”  does  not  seem  very  like  Arim  or  Jearim,  but 
the  consonants — for  the  vowels  are  late  additions — are 
the  same  in  both,3  while  the  “thickets”  or  “  yaars  ” 
from  which  the  town  got  its  name,  “Jearim,”  still  clothe 
the  slopes  around  to  a  degree  rare  in  Palestine.  There 
are  other  grounds  of  identification,  but  they  require  too 
much  acquaintance  with  local  details  to  be  useful  for 
popular  statement,  though  their  concurrent  weight  speaks 
strongly  in  favour  of  the  site  having  really  been  here. 
In  this  quiet  nook,  then,  we  may  think  of  the  Ark  as 
sacredly  guarded  for  twenty  years,  after  the  destruction  of 
the  men  of  Bethshemesh  for  daring  to  look  into  it.4  On 


1  Josh.  xv.  60.  2  1  Sain.  vii.  1. 

k 


4  1  Sam.  vi.  19. 


3 


146 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


this  platform  we  may  fancy  David  standing  as  the  sacred 
chest  was  brought  oub  from  its  long  seclusion,  amidst 
chants  of  Levites  and  the  shouts  of  the  multitude. 

The  view  from  the  ruins  is  very  striking.  The 
valley  winds,  hither  and  thither,  six  or  seven  hundred  feet 
below ;  its  northern  side  hollow  with  caves  and  scarped 
into  cliffs.  Beyond  these  caves  and  cliffs  the  great  corn 
vale  of  Sorek,  in  ancient  times  “  The  Camp  of  Dan,”  reaches 
away  to  the  west,  past  all  the  sites  famous  in  the  border 
history  of  Judah.  From  the  top  of  the  lofty  hill  on  the 
north,  moreover,  one  can  see  how  natural^  the  Ark  might 
have  been  sent  up  from  the  lowlands  of  Bethsliemesh  to  a 
place  so  strongly  posted,  high  in  the  rough  hills. 

From  Bethshemesh  to  Artuf,  down  the  slope  of  Wady 
Surar  and  up  the  side  of  the  opposite  Wady  Muttuk,  the 
soil  varied  greatly  in  its  fertility.  In  one  place  the  grain 
was  thin  and  stunted';  in  another,  so  close  and  high  that 
it  was  wearisome  to  make  one’s  way  through  it  by  the 
narrow  path.  Near  Artuf,  indeed,  it  was  more  than  two 
feet  above  the  ground,  though  the  season  was  only  the 
end  of  March,  and  we  were  more  than  nine  hundred  feet 
above  the  Mediterranean.  Yet  the  soil  here  was  very 
stony,  so  that  the  only  explanation  of  the  difference  in  the 
crops  must  have  been  the  later  or  earlier  sowing.  There 
is  little  system  among  the  peasants,  as  much  as  a  month, 
in  some  cases,  intervening  between  the  seed-time  of  one 
man  and  that  of  his  neighbour.  There  was  no  water  in 
the  deep  trench  of  Wady  Sorek,  though  the  late  rains  had 
not  only  filled  but  overflowed  the  channel,  as  might  he 
expected  from  the  great  number  of  side  valleys  that  open 
on  this  great  central  glen.  A  few  days  before,  the  water 
had  been  rushing  on  its  way  down  the  upper  part  of  this 
very  strath,  and  now  it  was  gone ;  the  very  ideal  of  “  a 
deceitful  brook,”  so  often  used  by  the  prophets  as  an  image 


XXXII.] 


TO  EMMAUS  AND  KIRJATH  JEARIM. 


147 


of  inconstancy.  So  Jeremiah  thought  when,  in  his  de¬ 
spairing  weakness,  he  cried  out,  “  Why  is  my  pain  per¬ 
petual,  and  my  wound  incurable,  which  refuseth  to  be 
healed  ?  Wilt  thou  indeed  be  unto  me  as  a  deceitful 
brook,  as  waters  that  fail  P  ” 1  So,  too,  J ob  lamented, 
“  My  brethren  have  dealt  deceitfully  as  a  brook,  as  the 
channels  of  brooks  that  pass  away ;  what  time 

they  wax  warm,  they  vanish ;  when  it  is  hot  they  are 
consumed  out  of  their  place.” 2 

Artuf  lies  on  a  hill  at  the  mouth  of  two  wadys,  north 
and  south  of  it,  that  wind  with  countless  side  openings 
throughout  Judsea — for  it  is  impossible  to  say  where  any 
wady  really  ends,  so  entirely  is  the  country  made  up  of 
hills  and  glens,  running  in  every  possible  direction,  like 
the  lines  in  a  brain  coral.  The  hill-sides  were  very  stony, 
though  here  and  there  sown  ;  a  few  thorn-bushes  holding 
their  ground  on  spots  where  the  rain  had  not  been  able 
to  wash  awaj  all  the  soil.  The  country  to  the  east  was 
very  desolate,  but  many  heaps  of  ruins  spoke  of  thick 
population  in  former  times.  Hills  cleft  into  a  wild,  rough 
chaos  of  peaks  rose,  in  many  cases,  well-nigh  a  thousand  feet 
above  the  narrow  ravines  between  them,  offering  a  very 
different  landscape  from  the  rounded  outlines  usual  in 
Judaea.  From  one  point,  indeed,  the  eye  looked  down  on 
the  plains,  where  the  high  tower  of  Eamleh  was  clearly 

visible.  On  a  hill  three  hundred  feet  lower  than  Zorah, 

# 

on  the  other  side  of  a  wady,  above  a  grove  of  olives,  lay 
Esliuah,3  Samson’s  home  at  one  time ;  about  a  mile  from 
Zorah  and  Artuf,  respectively.  The  hills  on  all  sides  of 
us  were  rough  with  stuuted  “  bush,”  and  abounded  in 
partridges,  while  the  home-like  voice  of  the  cuckoo  sounded 
near  at  hand.  At  one  place  some  black  swine  broke 

1  Jer.  XV.  18  (R.V.).  2  Job  vi.  15—17. 

3  The  modern  name  of  the  ancient  Eshtaol. 

k  2 


148  THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE.  [Chap. 

out  of  the  cover  on  the  slope,  and  ran  hastily  off,  for 
safer  shelter,  whence,  it  may  be,  they  sallied,  after  a  time, 
to  seek  what  they  could  get  in  any  cultivated  land  in  the 
neighbourhood,  as  in  the  days  when  “  the  boar  out  of  the 
wood  wasted  the  vineyard  of  Israel,  and  the  wild  beast  of 
the  field  devoured  it.”1  The  hill-sides  as  we  passed  were 
utterly  stony,  and  could  never  have  been  tilled,  though 
occasionally  a  small  island  of  green  showed  itself  in  some 
hollow,  as  when  we  came  to  the  hamlet  of  Akur,  seated  in 
just  such  a  fertile  nook,  entirely  surrounded  by  high  hills. 
It  lies  a  little  off  the  line  of  the  long  Wady  Surar,  which 
runs  behind  it,  as  a  narrow  ravine,  to  the  east,  still  vin¬ 
dicating  its  name  for  fruitfulness  by  a  long  grove  of  olives 
belonging  to  the  village  and  stretching  southwards  from  it, 
on  the  other  side  of  its  hill.  There  was  even  some  rude 
tillage  round  the  houses,  and  a  few  goats  browsed  on  the 
bare  hill-side.  Some  water  still  remained  in  the  wady,  and 
there  were  signs  of  the  stream  having  recently  been  from 
four  to  six  feet  deep,  and  even  of  its  covering  the  whole 
bottom  of  the  narrow  glen  at  times.  Woe  to  the  traveller 
caught  in  such  a  place  in  heavy  rains.  “  The  waves  of 
death  ”  would  soon  compass  him  about.2  It  was  often 
necessary  to  cross  the  torrent  bed,  and  as  the  path  must 
in  all  ages  have  been  the  same  in  such  places,  the  words 
of  our  Lord,  “  Pray  that  your  flight  be  not  in  the  winter,” 
came  forcibly  to  mind.3  Stones,  many  of  them  of  great- 
size,  filled  the  channel,  so  that  it  was  hard  to  get  across, 
while  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  advance  any  distance 
in  the  bed  itself  without  great  difficulty.  Many  women 
and  girls  passed,  carrying  on  their  heads  huge  bundles  of 
thorns  and  fagots,  for  fuel,  having  come  miles  to  gather 
them,  just  as  women  and  girls  used  to  do  in  ancient  times.4 


1  Ps.  lxxx.  13. 

2  Ps.  xviii.  5. 


3  Mark  xiii.  18. 

4  Isa.  xxvii.  11 ;  Jer.  vii.  18. 


XXXII.] 


TO  EMMAUS  AND  KIKJATH  JEARIM. 


149 


The  strip  of  country  across  which  we  had  passed  was 
barren  enough,  but  to  the  north,  over  the  hills,  it  was 
much  better,  very  large  olive  plantations  covering  the 
slopes  of  not  a  few  valleys.  The  belt  of  comparative 
fruitfulness  stretched  down  to  the  next  village  on  our 
course — Ain  Karim — which  lies  beside  a  confluence  of 
valleys,  the  hills  over  which  were  crowned  with  hamlets, 
while  the  valleys  themselves  were  green  with  crops,  and 
their  slopes  fair  with  waving  olive-trees.  The  exceptional 
fertility  around  was,  we  found,  a  tribute  to  Western 
energy,  for  a  colony  of  Franciscan  monks  had  long  been 
established  at  this  spot,  in  the  belief  that  the  parents  of 
J ohn  the  Baptist  lived  here ;  and  it  was  their  industry, 
and  that  which  they  had  roused  or  paid  for  in  others,  that 
had  made  things  as  they  were.  There  is  a  fine  spring, 
the  Spring  of  the  Blessed  Mary,  to  which  one  goes  down 
by  two  flights  of  stone  steps,  through  the  roofless  arches 
of  an  old  church.  Bound  it  a  number  of  women  were 
gathered,  beside  an  underground  arch,  washing,  or  draw¬ 
ing  water.  There  is  also  a  well  dedicated  to  Zacharias 
and  Elizabeth,  the  water  of  which  is  raised  by  the  un¬ 
usual  aid  of  a  rope  and  pulley.  Old  walls  and  arches 
mark  this  spot  also,  but  in  the  village  new  houses  were 
actually  being  built ;  a  strange  sight  in  Palestine.  The 
large  monastery  built  in  honour  of  John  the  Baptist  has 
a  very  fine  position  on  a  low,  isolated  hill,  surrounded 
by  others  much  higher.  From  the  west  it  looks  like 
a  mediaeval  castle ;  its  strong,  castellated  wall,  enclosing 
a  wide  circuit,  supports  the  illusion,  though,  outside, 
everything  is  of  the  ordinary  local  type.  For  centuries 
the  church  built  over  the  place  where  tradition  alleges 
the  Baptist  to  have  been  born,  had  been  used  by  the 
Mahommedans  as  a  cowshed  and  sheepfold,  but  it  was 
regained  by  that  pious  monarch,  Louis  XIV.  of  France, 


150 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


for  the  Franciscans,  and  has  since  then  been  elaborately 
restored.  The  Greek  Church  sends  its  pilgrims  to  Jutta, 
near  Hebron,  as  the  place  where  St.  John  saw  the  light ; 
the  Latin  Church  patronises  Ain  Karim.  But  the  Greek 
locality  has  far  the  better  claims  to  honour. 

Climbing  the  hill  on  which  the  village  lies,  we  saw  the 
white  domes  of  the  Russian  Hospice  at  Jerusalem  rising 
unexpectedly  before  us,  though  the  city  itself  was  still 
hidden  by  intervening  hills.  To  the  west,  the  eye  ranges 
down  valley  bejmnd  valley,  to  the  Mediterranean,  for  Ain 
Karim  is  more  than  two  thousand  feet  above  the  sea,  and 
thus  from  the  same  point  one  could  see  to  the  gates  of 
Jerusalem  on  the  one  hand,  and  to  the  great  sea  on  the 
other.  The  village  of  Kolonieh,  which  lies  about  two 
miles  north  of  Ain  Karim,  is  reached  through  a  charm¬ 
ing  valley  sprinkled  with  olives,  the  gift  of  springs  flowing 
from  the  hill-sides.  It  has  been  thought  by  some  to  be 
the  Emmaus  of  the  Hew  Testament,  the  name,  as  is  sup¬ 
posed,  having  been  changed  to  Colonia  after  Vespasian  had 
settled  a  number  of  his  veterans  in  the  neighbourhood, 
though  the  Talmud  simply  tells  us  that  it  was  a  “colonia,” 
or  place  free  from  taxes.  It  lies  on  the  treeless  side  of  a 
hill,  but  has,  for  Judaea,  a  very  beautiful  appearance,  amidst 
the  sweet  refreshment  of  green  patches  of  grain  that  sur¬ 
round  it.  The  windings  of  the  wady  prevent  any  distant 
views,  but  heighten  so  much  the  more  a  feeling  of  happy 
seclusion.  The  slopes  and  bottom  of  the  little  valley  on 
which  the  village  looks  down  are  planted  with  olive-trees, 
for,  though  the  wady  is  dry  as  a  whole  in  summer,  a 
spring  of  clear  water  bubbles  up  from  among  the  rocks  at 
one  spot,  and  runs  all  the  year,  spreading  rich  vegetation 
around.  Thick  clusters  of  almond,  pomegranate,  fig,  and 
orange,  with  rich  shade  and  delightful  fragrance,  attract 
one  to  it,  as  it  ripples  over  its  stony  bed.  Fig-trees,  with 


XXX1L] 


TO  EMMAUS  AND  KIRJATH  JEARIM. 


151 


vines  growing  through  tlieir  brandies,  are  not  wanting, 
and  must  make  delightful  arbours  in  summer,  when  the 
shoots  stretch  from  tree  to  tree.  No  wonder  that  a  place 
so  attractive  is  said  to  have  been  the  scene  of  a  strange 
festival  on  the  Day  of  Atonement ;  the  girls  of  Jerusalem 
coming  out  to  meet  the  young  men  who  were  celebrating 
their  absolution  from  the  sins  of  the  past  year,  and  re¬ 
joicing  before  them  in  merry  dances,  not  without  a  view, 
one  may  suppose,  to  subsequent  matrimonial  results.  No 
wonder  that  such  a  meeting  was  so  pleasant  as  to  be  re¬ 
newed  half-yearly,  the  twelve  months’  delay  for  the  “atone¬ 
ment  ”  taxing  patience  too  severely.  Remains  of  strong 
walls  of  large  bevelled  stones,  one  of  them  more  than  five 
feet  long  and  two  feet  broad,  are  found  in  the  little  glen, 
and  part  of  the  channel  of  the  spring,  made  into  a  plastered 
tank,  which  still  holds  water,  had  the  top  of  a  pillar  lying 
near  it.  No  place  near  Jerusalem  has  charms  which  were 
more  likely  to  have  made  it  a  favourite  haunt  of  the 
citizens  from  the  earliest  times.  The  spring,  the  watered 
gardens,  the  orchards,  with  their  varied  green  and  their 
different  blossoms,  the  terraces  along  the  slopes,  with  their 
vines  and  their  alleys  of  olives,  unite  to  make  it  an  idyllic 
home.  Was  it  to  this  place  that  the  two  disciples  came, 
accompanied  by  their  unrecognised  Master,  and  could  it 
be  that  in  some  humble  room  in  the  village,  as  it  then  was, 
He  made  Himself  known  to  them,  and  then  vanished  from 
their  sight  P 1  So  some  think ;  yet  Kolonieli  does  not 
meet  the  requirements  of  distance  from  Jerusalem,  from 
which  it  is  less  than  four  miles  off,  while  Emmaus  was 
nearly  eight.  It  seems,  therefore,  as  if  Captain  Conder’s 
identification  of  Khamasa  as  the  site  has  more  to  be  said 
in  its  favour. 

An  old,  almost  ruinous,  bridge  of  four  arches,  the 

1  Luke  xxiv.  31. 


152 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


centre  ones  a  patchwork  of  beams,  the  masonry  having 
long  fallen,  spans  the  channel  in  which  the  winter  rains 
flow  off* ;  showing  a  great  bed  of  stones  for  most  of  the 
year,  hut  wild  enough  when  the  “  rains  descend,  and  the 
floods  come,  and  the  winds  blow/’ 1 

Leaving  the  village,  the  road  towards  Jerusalem  is, 
as  hitherto,  a  continual  climbing  and  descent,  for  the 
country  is  nothing  hut  a  succession  of  great  land- waves ; 
the  view  from  the  higher  summits  showing  hill  beyond 
hill,  nearly  all  frightfully  barren  and  stony,  though 
nearer  the  city  tillage  is  more  frequent.  In  such  spots 
of  cultivation,  as  at  Hebron  and  elsewhere,  a  part  of  the 
thousands  of  tons  of  loose  stones,  strewn  everywhere, 
is  gathered  into  dry  walls,  which  protect  the  enclosures 
thus  redeemed  from  desolation. 

The  land  round  Jerusalem,  and  in  the  south  of  Palestine 
generally,  except  on  the  plains,  is  held  in  permanent  owner¬ 
ship  ;  but  in  the  north,  and  in  the  Philistine  country,  each 
cultivator  has  so  much  land  assigned  him,  at  fixed  inter¬ 
vals  of  a  year  or  two,  the  amount  being  measured  by  a 
cord  of  a  certain  length,  and  determined  by  the  size  of 
his  family  and  the  acreage  he  can  work.  This  system 
must  be  very  ancient,  for  it  was  thus  that  the  land  was 
distributed  at  first  among  the  Hebrews,  their  “inherit¬ 
ance  ”  being  then  “  divided  to  them  by  line ;  ”  2  and  it 
was  the  custom  also  of  other  nations,  for  the  kingdom 
of  Samaria  was  to  be  “  divided  by  line  ”  among  the 
Assyrians,3  and  the  ruin  of  Judah  is  painted  in  its  deepest 
colour  by  Micah,  in  the  fatal  words,  “  Thou  shalt  have 
none  that  shall  cast  a  cord  by  lot  [for  thee]  in  the  con¬ 
gregation  of  the  Lord/’ 4  In  such  a  subdivision  it  is  of 
great  moment  where  one’s  ground  may  be  assigned,  the 

1  Matt.  vii.  25.  2  Ps.  lxxviii.  55.  3  Amos  vii.  17. 

4  Micali  ii.  5  ;  Geikie,  Hours  with  the  Bible ,  iv.  355. 


XXXII.] 


TO  EMMAUS  AND  KIRJATH  JEARIM. 


153 


change  of  temporary  ownership  leaving  everything  un¬ 
decided  in  each  case.  The  “  lines  may  fall  ”  to  him  in  a 
place  far  from  his  dwelling,  so  that  it  will  take  hours  to 
reach  it  in  the  .morning,  or  return  from  it  at  night;  or 
they  may  fall  on  a  hare,  rocky  spot,  where  his  utmost  toil 
will  be  unproductive.  To  secure  fairness,  all  is  decided  by 
lot,  and  thus,  if  unlucky  one  year,  the  peasant  hears  his 
disappointment,  in  the  hope  that  the  next  drawing  may  he 
more  fortunate.  The  Psalmist  speaks  of  the  happiness  of 
his  position  in  words  he  must  often  have  heard  from  those 
who,  in  the  division  of  the  ground,  had  been  so  favoured : 
he  rejoices  that  “  his  lines  have  fallen  to  him  in  pleasant 
places  ”  1 2 — perhaps  on  a  gentle  slope  of  rich  soil,  near  the 
well  or  fountain,  and  not  far  from  his  home. 

Landmarks  to  indicate  the  limits  of  each  man’s  ground 
are  very  simple  matters  in  the  East.  In  Galilee  I  have 
seen  portion  after  portion  marked  by  an  ordinary  stone  of 
moderate  size,  laid  at  each  corner ;  nor  will  anyone  think 
of  removing  even  so  slight  a  boundary.  To  do  so  would 
not  only  be  unlucky,  but  the  most  abhorred  of  crimes.3 
It  is  interesting,  however,  to  notice  the  strange  way  in 
which  the  land  is  divided  in  some  places.  Frontage  on 
the  road  being  especially  desirable,  only  a  small  breadth 
of  it  can  be  allowed  to  each  man — a  half -line,  or  per¬ 
haps  two  lines  —  while  the  strip  seems  to  run  back 
almost  indefinitely,  so  that  a  farm  may  be  a  rod  or  two 
wide,  and  two  or  three  miles  deep ;  very  much  as  it  is  in 
America,  where  a  small  piece  of  river  frontage  has  a  great 
stretch  of  land  behind  it  to  make  up  the  “lot.”  But, 
narrow  as  the  strips  are,  especially  in  northern  Palestine 

1  Ps.  xvi.  t>. 

2  Deut.  xix.  14  ;  xxvii.  17  ;  Job  xxiv.  2  ;  Prov.  xxii.  28  ;  xxiii.  10.  The 
word  translated  “  landmark  ”  in  the  A.  Y.  means  in  Hebrew  the  cord  by  which 

the  land  is  measured. 


154 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE.  [Chap.  XXXII. 


and  Syria,  they  are  religiously  honoured ;  the  peasant,  in 
ploughing  time,  starting  in  the  old  furrow  with  the 
greatest  care,  along  his  line  of  a  mile  or  two.  How  long 
it  is,  in  any  given  case,  few  but  the  man  himself  know, 
for  it  is  a  sore  trial  to  patience  to  wait  till  the  small,  slow 
oxen  have  gone  to  the  end  of  the  almost  interminable 
furrow.  A  friend  in  Beyrout,  indeed,  told  me  that  he 
had  never  been  able  to  wait  till  the  cattle  turned,  though 
he  could  not  help  admiring  the  straightness  of  the  lines 
for  so  great  a  distance.  In  the  rich  plains  of  Lebanon  it 
matters  little  where  one’s  lines  may  fall,  hut  it  was  very 
different  with  David  in  a  district  like  that  round  Beth¬ 
lehem,  where  he  might  either  have  a  strip  of  the  fertile 
valley,  or  a  belt  of  stony  hill-side. 

I  was  reminded  in  Jerusalem,  by  the  use  of  salt  in  the 
baptismal  service  of  the  Greek  church,  of  the  wonderful 
tenacity  with  which  Orientals  continue  the  customs  of 
their  ancestors,  even  in  trifling  details.  Ezekiel,  it  will  be 
remembered,  speaks  of  Jerusalem  as  an  infant  that  “  was 
not  salted  at  all ;  ” 1  an  expression  not  easily  understood 
till  it  is  known  that  in  Syria  and  Palestine  it  is  still  the 
custom  to  “  salt  ”  infants.  Common  coarse  salt  is  pul¬ 
verised  in  a  mortar  when  the  child  is  born ;  and  as  soon 
as  the  poor  little  creature  is  washed,  it  is  covered  all  over 
with  it  and  wrapped  up,  like  a  mummy,  in  swaddling 
clothes.  This  process  is  repeated  daily  for  three  days.  In 
some  places,  they  are  humane  enough  to  melt  the  salt 
and  bathe  the  infant  with  the  brine.  After  the  third  day 
the  child  is  bathed  in  oil,  and  then  washed  and  dressed  as 
usual.  A  native  mother  cannot  imagine  how  European 
children  are  not  thus  favoured.  “  Poor  thing,”  she  will 
say,  “  it  was  not  salted  at  all ! 


1  Ezek.  xvi.  4. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 


NORTHWARDS. 

Before  finally  leaving  Jerusalem  I  was  glad  to  find  tliat 
Protestant  energy  was  doing  so  much  for  the  community. 
Besides  the  English  school  for  boys,  with  its  sixty  child¬ 
ren  and  thirteen  lads,  there  is,  as  I  have  said,  an  English 
school  for  girls,  with  seventy  names  on  the  books.  The 
German  Orphanage,  moreover,  cares  for  a  hundred  boys, 
and  the  Kaiserwerth  Deaconesses  have  two  hundred  girls 
under  their  wise  and  loving  charge.  In  addition  to  these, 
the  Latin,  Greek,  and  Armenian  communities  have  schools 
of  their  own.  It  must  he  difficult,  however,  to  spread 
Christianity  under  a  government  which  prohibits  Moslem 
children  from  attending  foreign  instruction.  The  Turk, 
indeed,  wherever  he  can,  tries,  under  one  pretext  or 
another,  to  hinder  all  English  evangelical  work,  though 
the  firmer  attitude  of  France  and  Germany  forces  him 
to  be  more  chary  of  interfering  with  the  religious  or  bene¬ 
volent  enterprises  undertaken  by  members  of  these  nation¬ 
alities.  But  alike  at  Joppa,  Gaza,  Bethlehem,  and  Nazareth, 
everything  English  is  virtually  proscribed  by  the  govern¬ 
ment;  and  I  have  found,  since  my  return,  that  it  seems 
hopeless  to  expect  such  energetic  action  from  our  officials 
at  the  Foreign  Office  as  marks  the  Foreign  Offices  of  Berlin 
and  Paris,  and  secures  their  missions  and  hospitals  in  the 
Holy  Land  from  the  vexatious  opposition  encountered  at 
every  step  by  ours.  We  may  talk  of  our  greatness  abroad, 


156 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


but  it  is  only  in  our  own  dependencies.  In  the  Turkish. 
Empire,  at  least,  our  Government  is  a  byword  for  pusil¬ 
lanimous  and  unmanly  neglect  of  its  subjects  and  their 
interests. 

The  road  to  Anatlioth,  or,  as  it  is  now  called,  Anata, 
starts  at  the  Damascus  Gate,  from  which  you  go  under  the 
shadow  of  the  city  walls  to  the  north-east  corner,  at  St. 
Stephen’s  Gate,  and  descend  to  the  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat. 
Peasants  and  townsfolk  were  already  astir  when  we  set 
out,  for  Orientals  begin  the  day  early.  On  the  road  up 
Mount  Scopus  there  were  quarries  on  the  left,  in  which 
men  were  working.  Ploughs  were  going  slowly  in  the 
hollow  of  the  valley,  and  women  with  great  baskets  of 
cauliflowers  on  their  heads  were  coming  down  the  hills 
from  the  villages  heyond,  to  market.  Looking  around 
from  the  lofty  vantage-ground  of  the  summit,  a  mag¬ 
nificent  panorama  presents  itself.  To  the  east,  on6  sees 
the  deep  blue  of  the  Dead  Sea,  the  pink  mountains  of 
Moab — in  many  shades,  lighter  and  darker,  along  their 
deeply  furrowed  range,  which  stretches  on  like  a  table-land 
— and  the  “  circle  ”  of  the  Jordan,  with  its  patches  of 
green;  then,  sweeping  northward,  the  Valley  of  the  Acacias, 
where  Israel  encamped,  the  waters  of  Nimrim,  the  gorge 
of  the  Jabbok,  and  the  hills  of  Gilead,  are  seen.  The  top 
of  Scopus  is  famous  as  the  point  from  which  invaders  have 
again  and  again  looked  down  on  the  Holy  City.  It  was  ap¬ 
parently  on  this  broad  summit  that  Alexander  the  Great, 
coming  up  from  Antipatris  in  the  plains  of  Sharon,  was 
met  by  the  high  priest  Jaddua,  clad  in  his  pontifical  robes, 
and  advancing  at  the  head  of  a  long  procession  of  Jewish 
dignitaries.  It  was  from  this  point,  also,  that  Titus 
looked  down  on  the  great  walls  and  glittering  splendour 
of  the  Temple  ;  and  it  was  on  this  bare  brow  of  stone 
that  the  first  Crusaders  sank  on  their  knees  to  bless  God 


XXXIII.] 


NORTHWARDS. 


157 


tliat  tlie}r  were  so  close  to  Jerusalem,  though  they  were  so 
nearly  spent  by  the  fierce  heat  and  the  want  of  supplies 
that  men  and  beasts  died  in  multitudes  from  the  dearth 
of  food  and  water.  The  yellow  hills  of  Quarantania — 
the  supposed  scene  of  our  Lord’s  forty  days’  fast — stand 
far  below,  shutting  out  the  sight  of  Jericho,  which  lies 
behind  them,  while  at  right  angles  to  them  the  brown 
valleys  of  Judah  rise  in  a  constant  ascent  to  those  around 
the  hill  on  which  we  stand.  To  the  south,  the  white  domes 
of  Jerusalem  shine  in  the  light,  and  the  long  grey  line 
of  battlemented  wall  holds,  as  in  a  girdle,  the  open  space 
of  Omar,  the  houses  of  the  city,  and  the  high  dome  of  its 
great  church,  beyond  which  the  cone  of  Herodium,  and 
the  wild,  confused  hills  of  the  wilderness  of  Judsea,  rise 
as  a  background.  The  slopes  of  Scopus,  and  the  hills 
around,  were  green  with  patches  of  barley,  hut  as  a  whole 
the  country  maintains  its  character  of  desolation,  for  there 
are  no  trees,  and  the  hill-sides  are  mostly  bare  grey  stone, 
split  by  the  sun  and  rain  of  ages. 

A  mile  and  a  quarter,  or  thereabouts,  from  Jerusalem, 
hidden  in  a  narrow,  fruitful  valley,  lay  the  hamlet  of 
Isawiyeh,  wheat  and  corn  covering  the  slopes  above  it, 
and  pricldy-pear  hedges  fencing  its  large  beds  of  cauli¬ 
flower.  Here  and  there  the  white-red  blossom  of  the 
almond  shone  out  between  the  silver-grey  leaves  of  the 
olive  and  the  darker  green  of  the  carob-tree,  clumps  of 
which  grew  at  different  points.  Hills,  with  many  rock 
cisterns  in  them,  rose  all  around,  except  to  the  east,  through 
an  opening  in  which  direction  the  Head  Sea  was  visible,  so 
that  it  was  not  surprising  to  find  that  a  path  led  from 
the  hamlet  to  the  Jordan,  the  ^peasants  speaking  of  the 
river  as  five  hours  distant. 

“  Isawiyeh  ”  means  “  The  Village  of  Jesus  ” ;  and  it 
is  quite  likely  that  our  Lord  often  stopped  at  it  on  His 


153 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


journeys  to  Jerusalem.  It  lias,  further,  been  thought  to 
be  the  ancient  Nob,  where  the  Tabernacle  was  pitched  for 
a  long  time,  but  opinion  is  very  undecided  on  the  matter. 
“  Nob  ”  means  “  a  high  place/’  and  was,  apparently,  in 
sight  of  Jerusalem; 1  but  Isawiyeh  is  shut  out  from  the 
view  of  the  city  by  intervening  hills,  and  it  does  not 
answer  to  a  “high  place,”  for  it  is  in  a  valley.  A  rival 
to  Isawiyeh  has  been  found  by  some  in  the  village  of 
Shafat,  about  a  mile  and  a  half  to  the  north-west,  owing 
its  name  to  a  contraction  of  Jehoshaphat,  which  was  used 
in  full  so  late  as  the  fourteenth  century.  Its  features  are 
simple.  A  ruined  saint’s  tomb,  with  a  low  dome  still 
rising  over  falling  walls,  and  a  few  pieces  of  ancient 
buildings,  are  the  only  notable  things,  unless  it  be  two 
or  three  fig-  and  other  fruit-trees  growing  at  the  tomb. 
Bare  sheets  of  rock,  scanty  pasture  for  goats,  and  stony 
uplands,  complete  the  picture.  Dean  Stanley  fancied  that 
Nob  might  have  stood  on  the  northernmost  of  the  three 
summits  of  the  Mount  of  Olives,2  while  Professor  Miihlau 
transfers  it  to  the  village  of  Beit  Nuba,  about  fourteen 
miles  almost  west  of  Jerusalem,  the  most  improbable  site 
of  all.  Supposing  Nob  to  have  been  either  at  Shafat  or  at 
Isawiyeh,  memories  of  great  interest  cling  to  these  spots, 
for  at  Nob,  the  priest’s  city,3  the  Tabernacle,  though  the 
Ark  was  not  with  it,  stood  in  the  time  of  Saul,  with  Abi- 
raelech  for  high  priest.4  Hither  David  came  in  his  flight 
from  Saul,  and  received  the  shewbread  from  the  friendly 
priest  to  sustain  him,  nothing  else  being  within  his  reach 
in  the  fierce  haste,  and  was  girt  with  the  sword  of  Goliath, 
which  had  been  preserved  in  the  holy  place  as  a  sacred 
national  relic.  The  ruin  of  Nob  dated,  it  would  seem,  from 
this  time,  Saul  taking  a  fierce  revenge  on  both  town  and 

1  Isa  x.  32.  3  1  Sam.  xxii.  19. 

2  Sinai  and  Palestine,  184.  4  1  Sam.  xxi.  1  ;  Matt.  xii.  3;  Luke  vi.  3. 


XXXIII.] 


NORTHWARDS. 


159 


priests  for  the  kindness  shown  to  his  rival.  Jerome  ex¬ 
pressly  saj^s  that  Jerusalem  could  he  seen  from  Nob;  and 
in  this  respect  Shafat  suits  as  to  position. 

The  road  to  Anatliotli  from  Isawiyeh  is  over  rough 
hills  and  valleys,  wild  and  desolate.  Black  goats  browsed 
on  the  scanty  herbage  growing  between  the  thickly  sown 
stones.  A  sheplierd-boy  guided  them,  and  recalled  any 
that  strayed  by  well-aimed  pebbles  from  his  sling,  as,  no 
doubt,  had  often  been  done  by  David. 1  The  life  of  a  herd- 
hoy  is  a  hard  one  on  these  bare  hills  and  in  these  barren 
valleys,  where  no  shade  can  be  found.  “  In  the  da}f  the 
heat  consumes  him,  and  the  frost  by  night,”  as  Jacob  said 
of  a  similar  life  in  Mesopotamia.2  Jeremiah  must  often 
have  passed  over  this  hare  track  after  his  nation  had  been 
swept  away  to  Babylon,  when  the  sheep,  cattle,  and  goats 
had  been  driven  with  them  from  the  hills  ;  and  he  must 
have  felt  the  bitterness  of  the  change  when  the  pipe  of 
the  shepherd  no  longer  sounded  from  the  field,  and  no 
life  cheered  him  where  it  had  formerly  abounded.  How 
natural  that  in  his  anticipations  of  the  happy  days  after 
the  Return,  he  should  picture  in  his  mind  that  “  again  in 
this  place,  which  is  desolate,  without  man  and  without 
beast,  and  in  all  the  cities  thereof,  shall  be  an  habitation 
of  shepherds  causing  their  flocks  to  lie  down,  or  pass  again 
under  the  hands  of  him  that  telleth  them.”3 

Anathoth,  the  birthplace  of  Jeremiah,  is  a  small 
village  lying  on  the  top  of  a  low  hill,  which  is  fretted 
over,  in  part,  with  loose  stone  walls  protecting  little  or 
nothing,  and  of  course  in  a  very  poor  condition,  like 
everything  in  Palestine,  so  far  as  I- have  seen,  except  the 
buildings  of  Bethlehem  and  its  neighbourhood,  which  are 
Christian.  A  few  olive-trees  grow  in  scattered  clumps  on 
the  plain  below  the  village,  but  otherwise  there  are  no 

1  1  Sam.  xvii.  40.  2  Gen.  xxxi.  4°.  3  Jer.  xxxiii.  12,  13. 


160 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


trees  in  the  landscape.  It  was  a  “  town  ”  of  Benjamin,  and 
was  resettled  after  the  Captivity,  so  that  the  solitude  which 
grieved  the  prophet  passed  away  after  his  death.  Pillar- 
shafts,  built  into  some  of  the  walls,  speak  of  mediaeval 
structures — probably  churches  and  other  ecclesiastical 
buildings  ;  indeed,  the  tesselated  pavement  of  a  church 
was  recently  discovered  on  the  western  side  of  the  hamlet. 
The  view  from  any  of  the  housetops  is  wonderfully  in¬ 
teresting  in  historical  memories.  The  famous  heights  of 
Benjamin,  Gibeah  of  Saul,  Bamah,  Geba,  and  others,  rise  in 
a  lovely  panorama  round  the  prophet’s  home.  Here  he 
spent  his  youth  and  the  first  two  years  of  his  great  office, 
till  the  hostility  of  his  fellow-villagers  threatened  his  life 
and  forced  him  to  betake  himself  to  Jerusalem.1  The  Holy 
City  is  hidden  by  the  rising  ground  on  the  south  and  west, 
but  to  the  east  and  north  long  sharp  ridges  of  chalk, 
dotted  with  knolls  which  fleck  the  slopes  with  shadow, 
stretch  away  into  the  distance.  To  the  west  the  hills  are 
rounded  instead  of  sharp  ;  their  harder  limestone  weather¬ 
ing  thus  under  the  sky  and  rain,  instead  of  being  washed 
away  into  sierras  like  the  softer  beds.  Jeremiah  must 
often  have  looked  down  the  long  ravines  which  sink  one 
below  another  to  the  plains  of  the  Jordan,  beyond  which 
the  mountains  of  Moab,  east  of  the  river,  stand  up  against 
the  sky,  and  over  the  blue  Sea  of  Death,  washing  the  foot 
of  these  hills,  and  brightening  the  whole  landscape  by 
its  contrast  with  the  prevailing  yellow  or  brown.  He  had 
before  him,  also,  close  at  hand,  a  soft  green  hollow  between 
his  village  and  the  high  northern  side  of  Wady  Saleim,  to 
refresh  his  eyes  and  heart  in  the  midst  of  the  dry  and 
rocky  prospect  around.  The  neighbourhood  must  have 
been  equally  familiar  to  Jeremiah’s  great  predecessor 
Isaiah,  for  no  one  who  did  not  know  the  ground  thoroughly 

1  Jer.  i.  1;  xxix.  27;  xi.  21. 


XXXIII.] 


NORTHWARDS. 


1G1 


could  have  painted  the  advance  of  the  Assyrian  army 
against  Jerusalem  with  the  local  touches  which  he  gives. 
“  He  is  come  to  Aiath  [or  Ai] ;  he  is  passed  through 
Migron  ;  at  Michmash  he  layeth  up  his  baggage  ;  they  are 
gone  through  the  pass ;  they  have  taken  up  their  lodging 
at  Geba  ;  Hamah  trembleth  ;  Gibeali  of  Saul  is  fled.  Cry 
aloud  with  thy  voice,  0  daughter  of  Gallim  !  hearken,  0 
Laishah  !  0  thou  poor  Anathoth  !  Madmenah  is  a  fugi¬ 
tive  ;  the  inhabitants  of  Gebim  gather  themselves  to  flee. 
This  very  day  shall  he  halt  at  Nob  ;  he  shaketh  his  hand 
at  the  mount  of  the  daughter  of  Zion,  the  hill  of  Jeru¬ 
salem/'  1 

Two  women  were  busy  in  a  cottage  at  the  household 
mill,  which  attracted  me  by  its  sound.2  I  have  previously 
described  the  simple  stones  with  which  the  flour  of  the 
family  is  daily  prepared,  but  it  was  striking  to  see  so  vivid 
an  illustration  of  the  words  of  our  Lord,  that  at  His  sudden 

■v 

and  unexpected  appearance,  when  He  comes  again,  “  two 
women  shall  be  grinding  at  the  mill ;  the  one  shall  be 
taken,  and  the  other  left.” 3  To  grind  is  very  exhaust¬ 
ing  work,  so  that,  where  possible,  one  woman  sits  opposite 
the  other,  to  divide  the  strain,  though  in  a  poor  man’s 
house  his  wife  has  to  do  this  drudgery  unaided.  It  is 
pleasant  to  remember  that  under  the  humane  law  of 
Moses  the  millstones  of  a  household  could  not  be  seized 
by  a  creditor  ;  the  doing  so  was  to  take  “  a  man’s  life  in 
pledge.”4  Anathoth  is  2,225  feet  above  the  sea. 

Shafat,  which  may  be  the  site  of  Nob,  lies,  as  I  have 
said,  between  two  and  three  miles  west  of  Anathoth,  over  a 
rough,  up-and-down  country,  but  there  is  a  stretch  of 
flat  land  to  the  south  of  it.  The  strange  conical  hill  Tell 
el  Ful,  2,750  feet  high,  rises  behind  this  level,  with  a 

1  Isa.  x.  31—32  (R.Y.). 

2  Jer.  xxv.  10;  Rev.  xviii.  22;  Eccles.  xii.  1. 

I 


3  Matt.  xxiv.  41. 

4  I'eut.  xxiv.  (j. 


162 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


mysterious  mound  on  its  top,  wliicli  excavation  has 
shown  to  have  been  originally  an  artificial  platform, 
supported  by  rough  walls  with  steps  leading  up  to  it, 
or,  perhaps,  by  a  lower  platform  surrounding  it.  When 
it  was  raised  no  one  knows,  but  as  it  is  visible  from 
Jerusalem  and  all  the  villages  far  and  near,  it  may  have 
been  used  for  a  beacon,  to  give  the  alarm  in  war,  or  to 
announce  the  rise  of  the  new  moon  in  times  of  peace. 
There  are  no  traces  of  any  other  buildings.  The  eye 
ranges  over  Anatlioth  and  Isawiyeh,  and  down  to  the 
deep  gorge  of  the  Jordan,  which  looks  specially  beau¬ 
tiful  from  this  point.  On  the  south-east  lie  the  waters 
of  the  Dead  Sea,  apparently  as  calm,  in  their  deep  blue, 
as  the  heaven  above ;  and  beyond  them,  of  course,  are  the 
mountains  of  Moah.  To  the  north  lie  Ramah  and  the 
hill  of  Geba,  while  to  the  west  and  south  are,  successively, 
Gibeon,  the  stately  height  of  Mizpeh  or  Neby  Samwil — 
the  queen  among  ih;  heights  of  Benjamin — and,  in  all  its 
romantic  beauty,  the  Holy  City,  with  its  roofs  and  domes, 
its  towers  and  minarets. 

Tell  el  Ful  has  been  very  generally  believed  to  be  the 
site  of  the  ancient  town  known  as  Gibeah  of  Benjamin,1 
from  its  tying  in  the  territory  of  that  tribe,  or  as  Gibeah  of 
Saul,  because  that  king  belonged  to  it,2  or  as  Gibeah  of  God, 
probably  from  an  old  sacrificial  high  place  being  near  or 
on  it.3  Captain  Conder  supposes  that  the  name  of  Gibeah 
was  attached  to  a  small  district  reaching  towards  Mich- 
mash,  but  the  town  itself  would  certainty  be  on  a  height. 
If  this  be  so,  Tell  el  Ful  is  associated  with  a  very  dark 
chapter  of  Old  Testament  history.  Just  as,  at  this  time, 
many  travellers,  men  and  women,  riding  or  on  foot,  pass 

1  1  Sam.  xiii.  2  ;  xiv.  16. 

2  1  Sam.  xv.  34  ;  2  Sam.  xxi.  6  ;  1  Sam.  xi.  4. 

?  1  Sam.  x.  5,  13. 


XXXIII.] 


NORTHWARDS. 


163 


to  and  fro  along  the  road  immediately  beneath  it,  a  poor 
Levite  journeyed  on  from  Bethlehem  with  his  wife  three 
thousand  years  ago,  late  in  the  evening.  He  was  making 
for  the  hill  -country  of  Ephraim, hut  turned  aside  to  rest  in 
Gibeah  for  the  night,  as  the  sun  was  nearly  setting.  No 
one  appeared,  however,  to  give  them  shelter,  so  that  the 
two  sat  down  in  the  open  space  in  the  middle  of  the  town, 
to  spend  the  night  in  the  open  air,  if  hospitality  were 
finally  refused  them.  “  And,  behold,  there  came  an  old 
man  from  his  work,  out  of  the  field,  at  even,  and  he  lifted 
up  his  eyes,  and  saw  the  wayfaring  man  in  the  open  place 
of  the  city  ;  and  the  old  man  said,  Whither  goest  thou  ? 
and  whence  comest  thou?  And  he  said  unto  him,  We 
are  passing  from  Bethlehem- Judah  into  the  farther  side 
of  the  hill -country  of  Ephraim  ;  from  thence  I  am,* and  I 
vrent  to  Bethlehem- Judah,  and  I  am  now  going  home,1 
and  there  is  no  man  that  taketh  me  into  his  house.  Yet 
there  is  both  straw  and  provender  for  our  asses,  and  there 
is  bread  and  wine  also  for  me,  and  for  thy  handmaid,  and 
for  the  young  man  which  is  with  thy  servants  :  there  is 
no  want  of  anything.  And  the  old  man  said,  Peace  be 
unto  tbee  ;  howsoever,  let  all  thy  wants  lie  upon  me ; 
only  lodge  not  in  the  street.  So  he  brought  him  into  his 
house,  and  gave  the  asses  fodder,  and  they  washed  their 
feet  and  did  eat  and  drink.”2  But  in  the  night  the 
worthless  ones  of  Gibeah  committed  a  frightful  crime 
against  the  defenceless  strangers,  the  terrible  punishment 
of  which,  by  the  trib?s  at  large,  nearly  exterminated  the 
whole  clan  of  Benjamin.3  Here,  in  later  times,  the 
peasant  king,  Saul,  had  his  dwelling,  near  which  rose  a 
tamarisk,  under  whose  shade  he  used  to  rest.4  Here  also, 
sitting  by  the  wall  of  this  rude  palace,  he  held  a  feast 


l  2 


3  Judg.  xx.  35. 

4  1  Sam.  xxii.  6. 


1  Sept. 

2  Judg.  xix.  16 — 21. 


164 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


every  new  moon,  with  his  favourite  companions  in  arms.1 
But  the  spot  is  memorable,  besides,  as  the  place  where 
David  gave  up  to  the  Gibeonites,  to  be  put  to  death,  the  two 
sons  of  Saul,  whom  Bizpah,  one  of  the  dead  king’s  wives, 
had  borne  to  him,  and  the  five  sons  of  Saul’s  daughter, 
Merab,  borne  to  Adriel,  the  husband  to  whom  she  was  given 
by  her  father  after  having  been  promised  to  David ; 2  and 
the  Gibeonites  “hanged  them  on  the  hill  before  the  Lord,” 
or,  rather,  stuck  up  their  bodies  on  posts,  after  the  poor 
men  had  been  put  to  death.  “  Then,”  we  are  told,  the  unfor¬ 
tunate  “  Bizpah  took  sackcloth,  and  spread  it  for  her  upon 
the  rock,  from  the  beginning  of  harvest  until  water  was 
poured  upon  them  from  heaven  ” — from  the  end  of  May 
till  late  in  the  year — and  she  suffered  neither  the  birds  of 
the  air — the  hateful  vultures — to  rest  on  them  by  day, 
nor  the  beasts  of  the  field  [to  devour  them]  by  night ; 3  till, 
at  last,  David  heard  of  her  broken-hearted  love,  and  had 
the  bones  gathered  and  laid  honourably  in  the  rock  tomb 
of  the  family,  along  with  the  bones  of  Saul  and  Jonathan, 
brought  from  their  grave  at  Jabesh  Gilead  for  interment 
in  the  ancestral  resting-place. 

Across  the  plain  stretching  for  some  miles  north  and 
south,  on  the  west  side  of  Tell  el  Ful,  and  about  a  mile 
in  breadth,,  with  rolling  land  in  its  centre,  lies  the  village 
of  Bet  Hannina,  at  the  foot  of  Neby  Samwil,  which  is 
the  loftiest  hill  in  Central  Palestine,  and,  apparently, 
famous  as  the  Mizpeh  of  ancient  Hebrew  story.  It  is 
a  long,  slow  ascent  to  its  top,  over  a  succession  of  swells 
dotted  with  olives  after  passing  Bet  Hannina,  a  loose 
stone  wail  appearing  now  and  then,  though,  for  the 
most  part,  the  hill  is  in  a  state  of  nature,  with  so  little 
green  that  one  may  call  it  treeless  and  untouched  by 
man.  A  path,  at  times,  between  stone  walls,  neglected 
1  1  Sam.  xx.  5 — 25.  2  1  Sam.  xviii.  19.  3  2  Sam.  xxi.  9. 


XXXIII.] 


JSTORTHWAEDS. 


165 


for  who  knows  liow  many  generations,  leads  to  the 
summit. 

Though  the  soil  is  exceptionally  fertile,  the  district 
has  so  few  inhabitants  that  even  the  choicest  spots  lie 
desolate.  The  top  of  the  hill  is  2,935  feet  above  the 
sea,  and  is  seen  from  every  part  of  the  neighbouring 
country,,  towering  over  a  host  of  lower  summits.  A 
mosque  with  a  slender  minaret — once  a  church  of  the 
Crusaders,  and  still  showing  the  form  of  a  cross — crowns 
its  utmost  height,  covering  the  supposed  tomb  of  the 
prophet  Samuel.  A  number  of  olive-trees  grow  beside 
it,  but  there  is  also  an  abundance  of  huge  stones — 
remains  of  ancient  walls — and  a  plentiful  display  of  the 
worthless  thorns  and  rank  weeds  everywhere  so  common. 
Captain  Conder  thinks  that  Mizpeli  has  yet  to  be 
identified,  and  Sir  George  Grove  would  recognise  it  in 
Mount  Scopus,  close  to  Jerusalem;  but  tradition  and 
general  consent  assign  it  to  the  top  of  this  commanding 
hill.  The  word  means  a  “  watch  -  height,”  and  Neby 
Samwil,  so  named  after  the  “  prophet  Samuel,”  is  such  a 
“look-out”  as  cannot  be  found  elsewhere  in  Palestine. 
A  beacon  fire  on  it  would  be  seen  over  a  very  wide  dis¬ 
trict.  The  view  is,  indeed,  the  most  extensive  in  the 
country.  Pugged  valleys,  roughened  still  more  by  scrub, 
with  olives  rising  at  some  clear  spots,  and  patches  of  corn 
looking  out  in  soft  green  between  stretches  of  thorns  or 
loose  stones,  lay  sinking,  wave  beyond  wave,  at  my  feet ; 
the  very  picture  of  such  places  as  our  Lord  had  in  His 
thoughts  when  He  spoke  the  parable  of  the  sower,  with 
its  good  soil,  its  paths  through  the  corn,  its  rocky  stretches, 
and  its  tangles  of  thorns.1  A  mile  off,  on  the  north,  rose 
the  hill  El  Jib — the  ancient  Gibeon  of  Benjamin  ;  its 
limestone  beds  jutting  out  horizontally,  in  broad  bauds  up 

1  Matt.  xiii.  2—8. 


166 


THE  HOLY  LANE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


to  the  top ;  the  softer  material  between  each  layer  having, 
more  or  less,  been  washed  away.  Five  miles  further  off, 
in  the  same  direction,  high  on  its  hill,  rose  El  Bireh — the 
ancient  Beeroth — 2,820  feet  above  the  sea,  and  beyond  it, 
Piummon,  east  of  Bethel — the  ancient  “  Bock  Bimmon  ” — 
2,500  feet  above  the  sea-level.  Lifting  your  eyes  still  farther 
northwards  and  westwards,  the  top  of  Mount  Gerizim  and 
the  shoulder  of  Carmel  are  seen.  Er  Bam — the  Bamah  of 
Benjamin — and  Jeba — the  ancient  Geba — lie  three  or  four 
miles  off,  almost  to  the  east,  though  a  little  north  as  well. 
Looking  down  the  depths  of  the  ever-descending  western 
wadys,  and  through  the  opening  in  the  hills,  the  plains  of 
Sharon  and  Philistia  were  visible,  with  the  sea  beyond 
them.  To  the  south,  beyond  a  waiter  of  grey  hills,  I  had 
another  sight  of  the  Mount  of  Olives  and  Jerusalem,  with 
its  mosques  and  domes,  far  below  the  height  from  which 
I  looked  at  them.  Eastward,  beyond  the  gorge  of  the 
Jordan,  which  lies  too  low  to  be  seen,  rose  the  mountains 
of  Gilead  and  Moab.  A  glass  showed  the  distant  fortress 
of  Kerak — the  ancient  Kir  Moab — and  the  hill  of  Sihn,  the 
hi  ghest  in  Moab,  and  the  distant  mountains  of  Gilead. 
The  hills  immediately  round  Neby  Samwil  are  all  softly 
rounded,  not  steep,  rising  gently  for  the  most  part,  and 
offering  every  facility  for  terrace  cultivation,  to  their  very 
tops.  In  the  valleys  to  the  north-west  were  a  few  vine¬ 
yards,  with  ruinous  watch-towers  among  them.  A  shepherd 
lad  was  leading  out  his  flock  of  black  goats  from  the 
village  of  a  dozen  poor  huts,  close  by,  on  the  hill-top,  using 
the  peculiar  cry  of  his  craft.  The  mosque  beside  us  was 
in  ruins,  and  served,  in  part,  for  a  granary ;  its  pointed 
arches  reminding  one  that  it  had  once  been  a  Christian 
church.  Outside  the  huts  were  two  tanks  hewn  in  the  * 
rock,  one  with,  the  other  without,  water ;  memorials  of  a 
large  community,  long  since  passed  away.  A  hollow  in 


XXXIII.] 


NORTHWARDS. 


167 


the  rocks  a  short  distance  below  me  was  filled  with  a  clear 
flowing  spring ;  but  instead  of  the  old  well-to-do  Mizpeh, 
only  some  wretched  hovels  made  in  holes  in  the  limestone 
were  to  be  seen,  with  a  few  others  built  up,  in  part,  of  the 
materials  of  fine  ancient  structures.  The  ground  was  very 
stony  and  barren,  but  on  the  left,  in  the  valley  deep 
below,  were  fair  olive -groves  and  green  fields.  A  steep 
footpath  led  down  to  Bet  Hannina,  shaded  by  vines  and 
fig-trees,  mingled  with  olives  and  almond-trees.  Towards 
Jerusalem,  the  prospect  over  the  hills  was  frightfully 
barren,  as  if  the  curse  which  the  Israelites  once  inflicted 
on  Moab  had  fallen  on  this  part  of  their  own  land, 
where  “  they  beat  down  the  cities,  and  on  every  good 
piece  of  land  cast  every  man  his  stone,  and  filled  it, 
and  stopped  all  the  wells  of  water,  and  felled  all  the 
good  trees.” 1 

On  this  lofty  hill  the  tribes  of  Israel  assembled  in  their 
thousands  to  determine  what  punishment  should  be  meted 
out  to  the  Benjamites  for  their  hideous  wickedness 
towards  the  wife  of  the  Levite.2  Here  also  they  gathered, 
at  the  summons  of  Samuel,  during  the  worst  times  of 
Philistine  oppression,  and  after  a  public  confession  of  their 
sins,  were  sent  forth  to  victory  and  deliverance.3  It  was 
on  Mizpeh  that  they  met,  once  more,  for  the  momentous 
choice  of  a  king,  ending  in  tl  e  election  of  Saul  to  the 
great  office,  amidst  loud  cries,  then  first  heard  in  the 
nation,  of  “  God  save  the  king  !  ”4  One  of  the  three  holy 
cities  5  which  Samuel  visited  in  turn,  as  judge,  stood  on  its 
now  deserted  slopes,  or  on  its  summit.  Here  Jeremiah 
lived,  with  the  small  body  of  his  people  who  had  escaped 
from  being  led  off  to  Babylon,  after  the  destruction  of 

1  2  Kings  iii.  25. 

2  Judg.  xxi.  1,  3,  5,  8.  See  p.  162. 

5  Sept. 


3  1  Sam.  vii.  5 — 13. 

4  1  Sam.  x.  17—25. 


1G8 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


Jerusalem.1  During  the  Captivity  it  was  the  seat  of  the 
Chaldean  governor.  Here  the  Crusaders  caught  their  first 
sight  of  the  Holy  City,  calling  the  hill  Mount  Joy,  “  be¬ 
cause  it  gives  joy  to  pilgrims’  hearts,  for  from  that  place 
men  first  see  Jerusalem. ”  On  this  very  height,  in  fine, 
Diehard  the  Lionhearted  fell  on  his  knees,  and,  covering 
his  face  with  his  hands,  refused  to  gaze  on  the  city  of  his 
Lord’s  humiliation  and  death,  desecrated  as  it  was  by  the 
infidel,  crying  out,  “Ah,  Lord  God,  I  pray  that  I  may 
never  see  the  Holy  City  if  I  may  not  rescue  it  from  the 
hands  of  Thine  enemies.” 

El  Jib — the  ancient  Gibeon — is  reached  by  a  path 
leading-  down  from  Hebv  Samwil.  Watercourses  run, 
apparently,  in  every  direction,  but  they  all,  in  the  end, 
find  their  way  to  the  plain  of  Sharon,  for  El  Jib,  like  Neby 
Samwil,  stands  on  the  west  side  of  the  watershed  of  the 
country.  The  flat,  natural  terraces,  formed  tier  above 
tier  by  the  ring-like  beds  of  limestone  which  jut  out,  were 
fairly  tilled,  and  sprinkled  with  figs,  pomegranates,  and 
olives,  but  the  village  on  the  top  had  only  from  forty  to 
fifty  scattered  hovels.  Yet  no  spot  is  more  clearly  identi¬ 
fied  with  stirring  incidents  in  Bible  history.  It  was  once 
a  great  Amorite  or  Hivite  city,2  and  its  people  were  the 
only  part  of  the  old  inhabitants  left  alive  by  Joshua.  That 
they  were  spared  was  due  to  their  skilful  diplomacy,3  though 
they  were  made  slaves  of  the  Tabernacle  and  afterwards  of 
the  Temple,  drawing  water  and  hewing  wood,  under  the 
name  of  Netliinim — “The  Given,”  or  “Devoted.”  In  later 
times,  Saul’s  half-heathen  zeal  led  him  to  massacre  many  of 
this  pagan  remnant,  but  his  children  had  to  suffer  a  bloody 
reprisal,  seven  of  his  sons  being  given  over  to  the  Gibeonites 
by  David,  to  put  to  death  in  atonement  for  their  father’s 
crime,  as  the  story  of  Bizpah  has  reminded  us.4  On  the 

1  Jer.  xl.  6.  2  Josli.  ix.  7  ;  xi.  19  ;  2  Sam.  xxi.  2.  3  Josh.  ix.  4  2  Sam.  xxi. 


XXXIII.] 


NORTHWARDS. 


169 


waste  stretch  between  Gibeon  and  Ram  ah,  the  battle  was 
fought  in  which  Joshua  broke  the  power  of  the  allied  kings 
of  the  Amorites,  or  “hill-men,”  and  secured  possession  of 
Central  Palestine.1  The  “  Pool  of  Gibeon,”  where  David 
and  his  men  faced  Abner  and  the  adherents  of  Ishboslieth, 
in  the  very  heart  of  Saul’s  own  district,  is  still  to  be  seen 
below  the  east  end  of  the  hill — a  great,  right-angled  tank 
of  strong  masonry,  twenty-four  paces  long  and  fourteen 
broad,  lying  mostly  in  ruins,  and  no  longer  holding 
water.  Indeed,  its  bottom  is  sown  with  grain,  for  the 
noble  spring  which  once  fed  it,  rushing  from  a  deep  pool 
in  the  rock,  now  runs  past  unused.  On  the  opposite  sides 
of  this  sat  the  two  bands,  facing  each  other,  till  twelve 
from  each  side  rose  to  prove  their  mettle,  and  began  a 
fight  in  which  the  whole  twenty-four  fell  dead.  Here, 
beside  this  old  tank,  they  lay  in  their  blood  that  after¬ 
noon,  giving  to  the  spot  the  name  of  “The  Field  of  the 
Strong  Men;”2  still  virtually  preserved  in  that  by  which  it 
is  now  known,  “The  Valley  of  the  Fighters.”  Hear  this, 
“by  the  great  stone  that  was  in  Gibeon,”  Joab,  ever  faith¬ 
ful  to  David,  but  faithless  to  all  others,  basely  murdered 
Amasa,  his  rival,  who  “  wallowed  in  his  blood,  in  the 
midst  of  the  highway;”  his  murderer  standing  by,  red 
with  blood  from  the  girdle  to  the  sandals.3  On  this 
hill  stood  the  “  great  high  place  ” — that  is,  the  Old 
Tabernacle — at  which  Solomon  offered  huge  sacrifices,  and 
had  his  famous  vision,4  and  here  he  caused  Joab  to  be 
killed  as  the  poor  grey-headed  veteran,  justly  overtaken 
by  vengeance  at  last,  clung  to  the  horns  of  the  altar.5 
Beside  the  “  great  waters  ”  of  this  tank,  moreover,  Jeremiah 
and  the  band  with  him  were  set  free  from  the  chains  of  the 

1  Josh.  x.  3  2  Sam.  xx.  10;  1  Kings  ii.  5. 

2  2  Sam.  ii.  16.  4  1  Kings  iii.  4,  5  if. 

5  1  Kings  ii.  28. 


170  THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE.  [Chap. 

Chaldeans  ;  and  here,  also,  Johan  an  overtook  Ishmael,  the 
murderer  of  Gredaliali  and,  through  this  insane  piece  of 
villainy,  the  final  destroyer  of  Judah.1  Strange  events 
these  solitary  slopes  have  seen  !  Uninviting  though  the 
prospect  around  may  now  be,  but  for  a  few  gnarled  and 
twisted  olive-trees,  the  marks  of  ancient  terraces  on  every 
height  speak  of  long-past  days,  when  a  teeming  popula¬ 
tion  redeemed  the  landscape  from  barrenness,  and  filled 
it  with  the  hum  of  busy  life. 

From  the  top  of  the  fill,  the  ridge  on  which  stood 
Earn  ah  and  Gribeali  of  Saul  rises  a  few  miles  off.  An  olive 
plantation  covers  the  south-west  slope,  and  the  broad 
wadys  north,  east,  and  west  were  fairly  tilled,  black 
patches  of  newly  ploughed  land  alternating  with  the  green 
of  rising  crops.  The  eastern  slope,  which  boasts  of  some 
vines,  figs,  and  olives,  is  watered  by  several  springs,  one 
of  them  the  abundant  stream  that  once  filled  the  great 
tank. 

To  get  to  Er  Earn  you  cross  a  tract  of  rolling  land, 
about  three  miles  broad,  to  the  east  of  this  point,  passing 
a  heap  which  marks  Adaseh,  one  of  the  battle-fields  of 
Judas  Maccabseus,  where  he  defeated  Nicanor.  The  hills 
on  the  way  are  low,  and  gentle  in  their  swell,  like  the 
waves  of  the  sea  when  it  is  sinking  to  rest  after  a  storm. 
In  the  hollows  between  them,  green  sometimes  relieved 
the  yellow  monotony  of  the  landscape,  but  the  view  as  a 
whole  was  tame  and  dull.  Before  we  reached  Er  Earn, 
two  Eoman  milestones,  still  in  position,  showed  us  that 
this  was  the  old  military  highway  towards  the  pass  of 
Michmash,  the  key  of  Central  Palestine.  The  road  to 
Nablus  runs  a  little  west  of  Er  Earn,  in  the  plain  below 
the  hills,  but  must  have  been  commanded  by  any  fortress 
erected  at  Earn  ah.  It  was  for  this  reason,  doubtless,  that 

1  Jer.  xli.  12. 


XXXIII. 


NORTHWARDS. 


171 


the  truculent  Baasha,  king  of  Israel,  fortified  that  post, 
causing  such  danger  to  Jerusalem  by  doing  so  that  Asa 
was  glad  to  invoke  the  aid  of  Syria  to  force  him  to  retire 
from  it,  and  proceeded  at  once  to  dismantle  the  stronghold 
of  his  enemy  when  it  was  captured,  carrying  olf  the  stones 
and  timber  to  fortify  his  own  frontier  towns  or  villages 
of  Geba  and  Mizpeh.1  The  hill  rises  high  in  isolation 
above  the  neighbouring  ground,  but  has  now  only  a 
wretched  village  on  it,  with  the  ruins  of  an  old  Crusaders’ 
church,  and  of  a  tower,  the  foundations  of  which  may  he 
very  ancient.  Half  way  up  the  ascent  were  the  remains 
of  a  small  temple,  or  perhaps  khan,  beside  a  dry  tank,  the 
roof  of  which  had  once  been  supported  by  six  pillars,  with 
plain  capitals.  The  hovels  of  the  village  itself  spoke  of 
better  days  in  the  past,  for  bevelled  stones  looked  out  from 
tlie  walls  of  some,  and  in  the  little  yard  of  another  was  a 
short,  slender  pillar.  Bums  abounded  in  the  neighbour¬ 
hood,  as  you  east  your  eye  over  it,  and  everything  spoke 
of  a  glory  long  departed.  It  was  here — at  the  frontier 
town  of  Benjamin — that  the  Chaldeans  collected  their 
prisoners,  before  marching  them  off  through  the  pass  of 
Michmash  to  Babylon  ;  a  circumstance  used  by  Jeremiah 
with  the  finest  effect,  when  he  supposes  the  spirit  of 
Bachel,  the  mother  of  the  tribe,  to  have  left  her  tomb 
by  the  wayside,  near  Bethel,  to  grieve  in  mid-air  over 
the  unreturning  throng.  “A  voice  was  heard  in  Bamah, 
lamentation  and  bitter  weeping ;  Bachel,  weeping  for  her 
children,  refused  to  he  comforted  for  her  children,  because 
they  were  not.”2 

Geba  lies  about  two  miles  nearly  east  of  Bamah,  on  a 
separate  hill  of  the  same  small  chain  ;  a  poor,  half -ruinous 
village,  once  a  town  of  the  priests;3  now,  having  nothing 

1  1  Kiugs  xv.  17 — 22  ;  2  Chron.  xvi.  1  ff. 

3  Josh,  xviii.  24 ;  xxi.  17. 


2  Jer.  xxxi.  15. 


172 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


sacred  but  a  saint’s  tomb,  as  ruined  as  all  else.  From 
this,  the  way  rose  very  steep,  up  a  stony,  desolate  ascent; 
not  too  barren,  however,  for  some  sheep  and  goats  to 
browse  among  the  stones.  About  half  way  between  Jeba, 
or  Geba,  and  Muklimas,  the  ancient  Michmash,  but  to  the 
east  of  a  straight  line  from  one  to  the  other,  the  famous 
pass  begins,  through  the  Wady  Suweinit,  “The  Valley  of 
the  Little  Thorn-tree,  or  Acacia,”  to  Jericho  ;  in  ancient 
times  the  main  road  from  the  east  to  the  hill-country 
of  Central  Palestine.  Michmash,  which  is  famous  in  one 
of  the  most  romantic  episodes  of  Old  Testament  history, 
lay  less  than  a  mile  due  north  from  the  point  where  the 
wady,  running  south-east,  contracts  into  a  fissure  through 
the  hills,  the  sides  in  some  places  precipitous,  and  very 
near  each  other  ;  in  most  parts  eaten  away  above,  so  that 
the  cliffs  form  slightly  receding  slopes  instead  of  preci¬ 
pices,  with  a  comparatively  broad  bottom  below;  the  wady, 
however,  still  preserving  its  character  of  a  gorge,  rather 
than  of  a  valley.  The  whole  way,  from  near  Michmash 
till  it  opens  on  the  Jordan  plains,  behind  the  modern 
Jericho,  where  it  is  known  as  the  Wady  Kelt,  is  thus  a 
narrow  sunken  pass,  with  towering  walls  or  grim  rough¬ 
ened  slopes  of  rock  on  each  side,  in  some  places  800  feet 
high,  and,  throughout,  only  far  enough  asunder  at  any 
part  below  to  allow  of  the  passage  of  a  small  body  of  men 
abreast.  The  whole  length  of  this  gorge,  including  its 
doublings  and  windings,  is  about  twelve  miles,  but  in  that 
distance  it  sinks  from  a  height  of  2,040  feet  above  the 
sea,  near  Michmash,  to  about  400  feet  below  it,  where  it 
opens  on  the  Jordan  slope — a  fall  of  more  than  2,400 
feet. 

The  village  of  Muklimas  lies  on  a  broad  saddle,  more 
than  600  feet  below  Pa  mail,  and  230  feet  below  Geba, 
which  is  about  a  mile  and  a  half  west  of  the  chasm  of 


XXXIII.  ] 


NORTHWARDS. 


173 


El  Suweinit.  The  ground,  sloping  gently  from  Mich- 
masli  towards  Ai  and  Bethel,  is  still  very  generally  used 
for  growing  barley,  and  was  anciently  so  famous  for  this 
grain  that  the  Jewish  equivalent  of  our  proverb,  “  to 
take  coals  to  Newcastle,”  is  “  to  take  barley  to  Mich¬ 
mash.”  A  fine  brook  flows  down  the  valley  on  the 
north,  bordered  by  numbers  of  small  hut  well-propor¬ 
tioned  oak  -  trees,  from  which  I  had  the  pleasure  of 
gathering  some  mistletoe,  the  branches  being  richly  fes¬ 
tooned  with  it.  A  chasm  to  the  south  of  the  village, 
though  less  than  a  mile  off,  is  not  seen  from  it,  and, 
indeed,  only  a  very  small  glimpse  of  it  is  to  he  had 
from  any  part  till  you  are  close  on  the  brink;  a  narrow 
spur  of  the  hills  concealing  it  on  the  north,  and  flat  ground 
reaching  to  its  edge  on  the  south.  I  was  greatly  interested 
in  the  locality,  as  that  of  the  adventure  of  Jonathan  and 
his  armour-bearer,1  which  not  only  charms  by  its  audacity, 
but  was  of  vital  importance  in  Hebrew  history.  The 
identification  of  its  scene  is  fortunately  easy. 

Josephus  describes  very  minutely  the  position  of  the 
Philistine  camp  which  Jonathan  assailed.  It  was,  he 
says,  a  cliff  with  three  heads,  ending  in  a  long,  sharp 
tongue,  and  protected  by  surrounding  precipices ;  and  such 
a  natural  stronghold  is  found  close  to  Michmash,  on  the 
east;  the  peasantry  giving  it,  even  now,  the  name  of  “The 
Fort.”  A  ridge  stands  up  in  three  round  knolls,  over 
a  perpendicular  crag,  ending  in  a  narrow  tongue  to  the 
east,  with  cliffs  below  it ;  the  slope  of  the  valley  falling 
off  behind,  and  the  ground  rising,  to  the  west,  towards 
Michmash.  Opposite  this  “  fort,”  to  the  south,  a  crag 
rises  up  to  about  the  same  height — from  fifty  to  sixty 
feet — so  steep  as,  apparently,  to  forbid  an  attempt  to  climb 
it ;  the  two  sides  answering  exactly  to  the  description  in 

1  1  Sam.  xiv. 


174  THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE.  [Chap. 

Samuel :  “  a  rocky  crag  on  the  one  side,  and  a  rocky  crag  on 
the  other  side.”1  These  two  crags,  in  the  Hebrew  Bible,  are 
called  Bozez  and  Seneh — “  The  Shining,”  and  “  The 
Thorn”  or  “Acacia,”  respectively 2 — names  still  applicable 
when  we  see  them.  Seneh,  “  The  Thorn,”  survives  in 
“  Suweinit,”  the  name  of  the  wady ;  Bozez,  “The  Shining,” 
explains  itself  at  once  on  the  spot.  The  two  crags  face 
each  other,  from  the  east  and  west  respectively,  so  that 
one  is  nearly  always  in  shade,  while  the  other  is  equally 
favoured  by  sunshine.  Even  the  colour  of  the  cliffs  has 
been  affected  by  this  ;  the  shady  side  being  dark,  while  that 
which  has  always  been  exposed  to  the  glare  of  the  light 
is  tawny  beneath  and  white  towards  the  top.  The  growth 
of  a  thorn-tree  cn  the  one  side,  and  the  beating  of  the  sun 
on  the  other,  were  doubtless  the  origin  of  the  names  by 
which  Jonathan  knew  them  three  thousand  years  ago. 
That  he  could  really  climb  the  northern  cliff,  though  with 
no  small  difficulty,  has  been  proved  by  a  repetition  of  the 
feat  in  our  days.  But  then  there  was  no  Philistine  picket 
overhead  !  Strange  to  say,  on  the  precipitous  height,  the 
lowest  courses  of  a  square  tower  are  still  to  be  seen,  so 
that  an  outpost  must  clearly  have  been  stationed  here  in 
ancient  times. 

It  was  up  the  face  of  this  cliff,  then,  that  Jonathan 
and  his  armour-bearer  clambered  that  day,  the  Philistine 
soldiers  above  mocking  them,  as  they  tried  to  ascend,  with 
the  cry,  to  each  other,  and  to  the  two  braves — “  The 
Hebrews  come  forth  out  of  the  holes  where  they  have 
hid  themselves  !  ”  “  Come  up  to  us,  and  we  will  show 

you  something !  ” 3  But  on  the  heroes  went,  climbing 
up  with  hand  and  foot,  Jonathan  first,  the  armour- 
bearer  after,  the  two  falling  upon  the  outpost  as 
soon  as  they  had  reached  the  top,  and  cutting  down 

2  1  Sam.  xiv.  4.  3  1  Sam.  xiv.  11,  12. 


1  R.V. 


XXXIII.] 


NORTHWARDS. 


175 


twenty  men  within  the  space  of  half  an  acre.  The 
warders  of  Saul,  looking  out  from  the  hill  of  Geba,  two 
miles  off,  to  the  south-west,  must  have  seen  the  stir  from 
the  first,  and  the  spread  of  general  panic  among  the 
garrison  that  followed,  as  “they  melted  away,  and  went 
hither  and  thither.”1  A  path  leads  down  from  Geba  to 
Michmash  ;  and,  this  distance  once  passed  by  their  enemies, 
the  Philistin  es  would  have  been  cut  off  from  their  retreat, 
if  they  had  not  flown  quickly.  Away,  therefore,  they 
sped,  down  the  valley  leading  past  Ai  to  Bethel,  then 
south-west  across  the  watershed  to  Upper  Betlihoron,  then 
down  the  steep  descent  to  Lower  Betlihoron,  and  across 
the  broad  corn  valley  of  Ajalon,  to  the  Philistine  country. 
The  pass  by  which  they  thus  fled  was  that  in  which 
Joshua  had  consummated  the  great  victory  over  the 
Canaanites  in  the  first  days  of  the  nation,  and  where 
Judas  Maccabaeus  was  to  defeat  and  drive  hack  the  in¬ 
vaders  of  his  country. 

It  was  by  the  Wady  Suweinit  that  the  Assyrian  army 
entered  the  land  in  the  invasion  so  magnificently  brought 
before  the  imagination  by  Isaiah.  They  have  already, 
in  his  picture  of  their  advance,  climbed  through  the  pass 
from  Jericho,  and  “  have  taken  up  night  quarters  at  Geba  ; 
Bamah  trembles  ;  Giheah  of  Saul  is  fled  !  ”  Every  local 
touch  is  given  ;  and  it  is  even  added  how  the  baggage 
has  been  sent  beforehand,  by  a  side  wady,  to  Mich¬ 
mash,  that  the  army  might  press  on  straight  towards 
Jerusalem  2 

Michmash  itself  is  a  very  poor  village,  but  its  houses 
show  traces  of  a  very  different  state  of  things  in  former 
ages.  Old  pillars  lie  about,  and  some  of  the  dwellings 
are  wholly  built  of  large  squared  stones,  from  ancient 
ruins.  Others  have  great  dressed  stones  for  lintels  and 

1  Sam.  xiv.  16  CR.V.)  2  Isa  x.  28,  29.  See  also  p.  161. 


176 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


doorposts  to  their  little  courts  ;  and  in  one  spot  lies  the 
carved  head  of  a  freestone  column.  Under  the  Romans, 
as  under  the  Philistines,  a  military  post  was  stationed  at 
the  pass  close  by,  one  memorial  of  which  I  bought  from 
a  peasant :  a  small  bronze  statuette  of  Diana  with  her 
quiver,  hut  the  feet  gone,  which  had  been  found  in 
ploughing.  How  long  had  it  lain  since  its  first  owner  lost 
it  or  threw  it  away  ? 

Tombs  and  caves  are  found  in  the  neighbourhood,  and 
in  the  village  are  the  remains  of  a  vaulted  building  used 
as  a  granary,  from  the  top  of  which  I  looked  out  over  the 
landscape.  To  the  east  and  north  the  hills  rose,  as  it 
seemed,  almost  as  high  as  Neby  Samwil ;  on  the  west  was 
a  very  deep,  broad  ravine,  with  bare,  grey,  rounded  hills  at 
its  sides,  and  a  background  of  higher  ascents  close  at 
hand  ;  on  the  south  there  was  a  sea  of  hills  to  the  horizon. 
Men,  women,  and  children  clamoured,  of  course,  for  bak¬ 
shish,  but  they  were  very  civil,  greeting  us  courteously, 
though  without  uncovering  the  head ;  for  to  bare  the  head 
is  contrary  to  Oriental  ideas  of  respect.  According  to 
immemorial  custom  the  hours  are  numbered  from  the 
rising  of  the  sun,  and  we  thus  happened  to  arrive  about 
the  sixth  hour,  a  special  time  of  devotion  among  Mahom- 
medaris.  Turning  their  faces  to  Mecca,  the  men,  led  by 
a  venerable  functionary  with  flowing  white  beard,  prayed 
with  exceeding  reverence,  as  if  no  one  had  been  present; 
generally  standing  erect,  but  often  bowing  the  head,  and 
from  time  to  time  kneeling,  and  touching  the  ground  with 
their  foreheads.  Their  lowly  prostrations  reminded  one 
of  the  words  of  Abraham — “  Behold  now,  I  have  taken 
upon  me  to  speak  unto  the  Lord,  which  am  but  dust  and 
ashes.” 1  Before  leaving,  I  had  a  refreshing  drink  of 
curdled  goat’s  milk,  deliciously  sour  in  weather  so  hot : 


1  Geii.  xviii.  27. 


XXXIII.] 


NORTHWARDS. 


177 


the  very  drink  which  Abraham  gave  to  the  angels.1  A 
few  horses  were  feeding  in  the  thin  pastures  east  of  the 
village,  and  it  was  noticeable  that  the  deep,  broad  valley 
between  Geba  and  Michmasli  was,  in  reality,  furrowed 
into  a  number  of  smaller  valleys  and  plains,  separated  by 
lower  or  higher  undulations,  till  they  merged  into  one 
close  to  the  entrance  to  the  pass.  On  a  number  of  the 
roofs  of  the  village  huts,  stoneware  hives  spoke  of  the 
care  of  bees,  which  cannot  but  thrive  in  such  a  neighbour¬ 
hood  as  this. 


1  G-en.  xviii.  8. 


f 


m 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

BETHHORON,  BETHEL,  SHILOH. 

The  ride  from  Michmasli  to  Bethel  was,  as  usual,  only  to 
be  done  at  a  slow  walk,  the  horses  picking  their  steps, 
at  one  time  over  smooth  sheets  of  rock,  at  another  over 
heaps  of  boulders ;  now  up  a  steep  rough  hill ;  then  down 
its  farther  side,  with  the  occasional  delight  of  level  ground 
in  the  stony  bottom  of  a  valley.  I  bade  farewell  to  the 
village  with  regret,  for  it  had  for  the  moment  lighted  up 
long-dead  centuries,  from  the  days  of  Joshua  to  those  of  the 
Maccabees — one  of  whom,  Jonathan,  had  his  home  in  it 
for  years.1  The  track  lay  nearly  north,  passing  a  cave 
below  the  village  which  was  used  as  a  dwelling,  the 
wife  busy  at  the  entrance  making  butter,  by  swinging  to 
and  fro  a  skin  full  of  milk,  hung  from  three  props,  she 
pushing  it  with  a  stick.  We  followed  the  old  Roman  road, 
now  traceable  only  here  and  there,  but  the  way  was  very 
desolate  and  barren  alike  uphill  and  along  the  hollows, 
and  nobody  passed  us.  Below,  on  the  right,  a  deep  wady 
with  steep  rocky  sides  reached  far  down  through  the  hills, 
which  frequently  offered  sheets  of  bare  rock  for  the  smooth 
feet  of  the  horses.  Nearing  the  village  of  Deir  Dewan, 
attractive  on  its  hill  from  the  new  look  of  its  houses, 
agriculture  once  more  began,  some  of  the  peasants  being 
still  busy  ploughing  with  small  oxen,  though  most  of 
the  land,  wherever  possible,  had  already  been  ploughed  and 


1  1  Macc.  ix.  73. 


Chap.  XXXIV.]  BETHHOROH,  BETHEL,  SHILOH. 


179 


sown  A  mile  before  we  reached  the  village,  fig-  and  olive- 
trees  brightened  the  valley,  which  began  to  broaden  as  we 
advanced.  A  well  at  the  side  of  the  track  was  covered 
with  a  great  stone,  like  that  which  Jacob  rolled  away  from 
the  mouth  of  the  well  at  Haran.1  Ruins  here,  as  almost 
everywhere,  lay  at  various  points — the  tombstones  of 
cities,  towns,  and  villages  of  the  past. 

Still  following  the  direction  of  the  old  Roman  road — 
the  line  taken  by  which  had  probably  been  a  highway  for 
thousands  of  years  before  these  great  road-makers  utilised 
it — we  rode  along  the  side  of  an  isolated  hill,  two  miles 
from  Bethel,  which  lay  north-west  from  us.  The  broad, 
flat  top  was  surmounted  by  a  great  mound,  such  as  might 
mark  the  ruins  of  some  ancient  fortress  It  was  the  site 
of  Ai,2  “  The  Heap,”  now  called  “  El  Tell,”  which  has  the 
same  meaning  ;  the  huge  mound  being  the  cairn  raised 
over  the  burnt  and  desolate  city  by  Joshua.  The  capture 
of  this  stronghold  by  that  chieftain  was  the  turning-point 
in  the  Hebrew  invasion.  Jericho  having  fallen,  the  way 
was  opened  for  the  conquest  of  the  mountain  country 
above  it.  Spies  were  accordingly  sent  up  the  Wadys 
Kelt  and  Suweinit — which  are  dry  in  the  hot  summer 
weather — past  Michmash,  to  Ai,  and  on  receiving  their 
report  a  strong  force  climbed  the  same  defile,  with  its 
towering  crags  and  rough  footing.  But,  just  as  the  first 
attempt  of  the  Israelites  forty  years  before  at  Hormah,  on 
the  southern  side  of  the  country,  to  force  their  way 
through  opposition,  had  been  disastrously  repulsed,  so 
here  at  Ai  a  strong  position  enabled  the  inhabitants  to 
repel  the  invasion  of  Joshua,  and  to  hurl  his  force  back 
“  from  before  the  gate,”  in  sad  confusion,  many  of  his  men 
being  killed  by  their  pursuers  as  they  fled  down  the  steep 
wadys  by  which  they  had  ascended.  Achan’s  death  in 
1  Gen.  xxix.  3.  2  Josh.  vii.  2  ft. 


180 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


the  valley  of  Achor — that  part  of  the  Wady  Kelt  where 
it  opens  on  the  plains  of  the  Jordan — followed,  and  then 
came  the  second  attempt.  They  felt  that  they  must  not 
fail  again,  and  be  sent  back  once  more  for  forty  years  to  the 
Wilderness,  as  after  Hormah.  An  ambush  was  laid  by 
night  in  the  valley  between  Ai  and  Bethel,  on  the  north, 
while  Joshua  drew  up  the  rest  of  his  men,  in  sight  of 
the  town,  on  the  north  side  of  the  ravine  of  Deir  Diwan. 
Prom  this,  however,  they  presently  descended  into  the  flat 
bottom  of  the  wady,  as  if  from  faintheartedness  they  pro¬ 
posed  once  more  to  retreat.  Deceived  by  the  stratagem, 
the  King  of  Ai  left  his  stronghold  and  rushed  down  to 
destroy  his  enemies  as  they  fled  to  Michmash,  but  when 
he  was  fairly  out  of  the  fortress,  and  away  far  down  the 
slopes,  Joshua,  who  had  remained  behind  on  some  emi¬ 
nence  where  his  men  in  ambush  could  see  him,  gave  the 
signal  by  uplifting  his  spear,  and  forthwith  the  city  was 
taken  by  a  rush,  and  set  on  fire ;  the  pillars  of  smoke  serv¬ 
ing  to  stay  the  pretended  flight  down  the  pass,  and  place 
the  men  of  Ai  between  the  forces  in  rear  and  in  front; 
every  man  of  them  perishing  in  the  massacre  that 
followed. 

The  rout  of  the  Philistines  at  Michmash  after  the 
great  deed  of  Jonathan  and  his  armour-bearer  was  followed 
by  a  heady  flight  up  the  very  track  by  which  we  had  come 
— that  of  the  first  invaders  —  past  Bethel,  through  the 
wood,  now  long  vanished,  where  Jonathan,  almost  spent, 
rekindled  his  spirit  with  the  wild  honey  dropping  from  the 
trees  to  the  ground.1  Thence  the  rush  of  men  swept  on 
across  the  plain  from  which  rises  Gibeon,  and  away  down 
the  pass  of  Bethlioron,  to  the  wide  corn-land  of  Ajalon, 
the  gate  to  their  own  land — the  maritime  plain. 

The  Pass  of  Bethhoron,  that  is,  “  The  House  of  Caves,” 


1  1  Sam.  xiv.  25 — 26. 


XXXIV.] 


BETHHORON,  BETHEL,  SHILOH. 


181 


has  a  famous  history  in  the  wars  of  Israel.  Beginning 
about  twelve  miles  south-west  from  Bethel,  it  runs 
slightly  north-west,  for  nearly  two  miles,  down  towards 
the  plains,  opening  at  the  foot  of  the  hills  on  the  broad 
expanse  of  Ajalon,  whence  the  lowlands  can  be  easily 
reached.  There  is  another  pass  up  the  hills  from  the  sea- 
coast,  beginning  at  Latron,  about  fifteen  miles  east  of 
Jerusalem.  Latron  lies  eight  hundred  feet  above  the  sea, 
and  was  once  the  seat  of  a  crusading  fortress,  known  as 
“The  Castle  of  the  Penitent  Thief;”1  and  the  track 
winds  up  towards  the  Holy  City  between  rounded  hills 
and  deep  open  valleys.  But  in  ancient  times  that  of 
Bethhoron  was  most  in  use.  The  wadys  which  run  down 
from  the  mountains  to  the  sea  in  the  west  are  very 
different  from  those  on  the  other  side  of  the  country, 
which  lead  from  the  high  lands  to  the  Jordan.  Rounded 
hills  and  an  open  landscape  take  the  place  of  the  tre¬ 
mendous  gorges  of  the  eastern  slope  ;  but  though  there 
are  these  differences,  the  fact  that  travel  is  pent  up  in 
one  narrow  hollow,  on  the  west  as  well  as  on  the  east, 
has  in  all  ages  made  both  sides  almost  equally  perilous 
in  a  military  sense.  A  broad,  undulating  expanse  of  corn¬ 
growing  land  forms  the  valley  of  “  Ajalon,”  or  the 
“  Gazelles,”  still  recognised  in  the  name  of  one  of  its 
villages,  “  Yalo.”  In  those  old  days,  the  country  seems  to 
have  abounded  in  game,  for  not  only  “  gazelles,”  but  their 
natural  enemies  as  well,  must  have  been  numerous,  since 
this  locality  had  villages  known,  respectively,  as  Shaal- 
bim,  “  Foxes  ”  or  “  Jackals,”  and  Zeboim,  “  Hj^senas.” 
Rising  gradually,  in  slow  ridges,  from  an  elevation  of 
about  nine  hundred  feet  above  the  sea,  this  charming  open 
landscape  climbs  nearly  four  hundred  feet  higher,  through 
a  steadily  narrowing  valley  to  the  lower  Bethhoron.  This 

A  Castellum  Boni  Latronis. 


182 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AHD  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


lies  more  than  seven  hundred  feet  below  Upper  Beth- 
horon,  two  miles  off,  at  the  head  of  the  ravine  There 
is  no  gorge  or  dark  glen,  with  high  walls  of  rock  ;  rounded 
hills,  bulging  up  like  huge  bubbles,  with  side  valleys  be¬ 
tween,  line  the  track,  presenting  little  difficulty  of  ascent 
at  hardly  any  point.  The  lower  village  stands  on  a  swell, 
almost  at  the  foot  of  the  mountains  ;  a  path,  thick  with 
stones,  leading  past  it,  across  some  level  ground,  to  the 
foot  of  the  pass.  From  this  point,  the  ascent  is  very 
rough ;  at  times  over  wide  sheets  of  bare  rocks  ;  at  others, 
up  steps  rudely  hacked  out  of  the  rock.  It  takes  an  hour 
to  get  to  the  upper  village,  and,  by  such  a  road,  one  feels 
that  the  ascent  of  an  invader,  in  the  face  of  brave  resist¬ 
ance,  would  be  as  arduous  as  flight  downwards  from  the 
mountains,  before  victorious  pursuers,  would  be  hopelessly 
disastrous. 

In  all  ages  the  two  Beth  borons  seem  to  have  been 
strongly  fortified ;  remains  of  a  castle  still  crown  the 
hill  at  the  lower  village  ; 1  the  foundations  of  some  post 
mark  the  middle  of  the  ascent,  and  other  ruins  guard 
the  top.  Looking  down  from  the  upper  village,  one  sees 
the  track  first  winding  down  the  hill  as  an  open  path, 
then  round  the  side  of  the  swell  below,  with  a  gentle  slope 
above  and  beneath;  and  only  after  leaving  a  broad  open 
valley,  dotted  with  olives,  below  this,  does  it  enter  on  its 
course  towards  the  sea.  Dry  stone  dykes,  enclosing  fruit 
trees — shapeless  masses  of  prickly  pear  serving  as  fences — 
and  small  plains  between  soft  slopes — growing  stones,  how¬ 
ever,  instead  of  grass,  and  thorns  instead  of  corn — stretch 
away  before  you ;  the  track  twisting  hither  and  thither, 
like  a  stream,  till  the  last  bend  of  the  hills  conceals  its 
entrance  on  the  wide  expanse  of  Ajalon.  Beyond  these 
hills,  however,  the  eye  ranges  over  the  plains  and  the  belt 
1  Hetlier  Betlihoron  was  fortified  by  Solomon  (1  Kings  ix.  17). 


XXXIV.] 


BETHHORON,  BETHEL,  SHILOH. 


183 


of  yellow  barren  sand  at  the  shore,  to  the  deep  bine  sea, 
reaching  illimitably  away.  Behind,  between  the  top  of  the 
pass  and  Gibeon,  lies  a  country  almost  as  difficult :  wild 
and  rocky  mountains,  where  the  paths  are  scarcely  worthy 
of  the  name,  and  cannot  be  threaded  without  a  guide. 

It  was  across  this  track,  and  through  Betlilioron,  that 
the  defeated  alliance  of  the  chiefs  of  Southern  Palestine 
lied  before  Joshua,  in  his  next  great  battle  after  the 
taking  of  Ai.  He  had  marched  to  Ebal  and  Gerizim  after 
that  town  had  been  destroyed,  the  headquarters  of  the 
Hebrews  still  remaining,  however,  at  Gilgal  in  the  Jordan 
plain.  There  two  deputations,  in  succession,  came  to  him 
from  Gibeon  ;  the  first  overreaching  him  into  an  alliance 
with  them  ;  the  second  announcing  that  a  great  league  of 
the  kings  of  the  Negeb  and  the  sea  plains  were  assail¬ 
ing  their  town  for  having  made  peace  with  the  Hebrews. 
An  appeal  for  instant  aid  was  urged  and  at  once  heard.1 
The  peril,  indeed,  was  quite  as  great  for  the  invaders 
as  for  the  people  of  Gibeon.  Joshua  had  the  fine  mili¬ 
tary  virtue  of  swift  as  well  as  wise  decision,  supported 
by  splendid  energy.  A  forced  march  up  the  Wady  Kelt, 
with  its  grey,  mountain-high  cliffs,  through  the  Wady 
Suweinit,  past  Geba  and  Ram  ah,  brought  him  in  one 
night  to  the  more  open  but  still  mountainous  track  in 
which  Gibeon  stood,  perched  on  its  lofty  hill,  more  than 
2,500  feet  above  the  sea,  and  some  hundreds  of  feet 
above  the  surrounding  country.  The  sudden  appearance 
of  his  force  at  sunrise,  where  the  night  before  all  had 
been  security,  with  no  dream  of  this  counter-attack, 
at  once  threw  the  “  Amorite  ”  host  into  the  wild  panic 
of  a  surprise.  The  remembrance  of  Jericho  and  Ai,  with 
the  exterminating  massacres  that  followed ;  the  ominous 
vigour  which  had  made  this  surprise  possible ;  the  haughty 

1  Josh.  x. 


184 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


bearing  of  a  force  confident  of  victory,  and,  withal,  the 
terrible  shout  with  which  it  rushed  to  battle,  at  once 
decided  the  day.  “  Not  a  man  could  stand  before  ”  the 
Hebrews,  still  in  the  full  flood  of  their  first  enthusiasm 
and  spirit  Through  the  defiles  leading  westward ;  up  the 
steep  ascent  to  Bethhoron  the  higher ;  then  down  the  back 
of  the  ridge  to  Bethhoron  the  lower,  the  flight  was  ever 
faster  and  more  confused.  To  add  to  the  misery  of  the 
rout,  one  of  the  terrible  storms  that  from  time  to  time 
sweep  over  the  hills  of  Palestine  burst  on  the  dismayed 
fugitives ;  great  hailstones  smiting  them  as  their  dis¬ 
ordered  crowd  fled  down  the  pass.1  Meanwhile,  Joshua 
had  taken  his  stand,  for  the  moment,  at  the  head  of  the 
pass,  with  its  long  windings  between  the  rounded  hills  be¬ 
neath  him  ;  the  broad,  heaving  plain  of  Ajalon  beyond  its 
southern  end,  and  the  blue  waters  of  the  sea  apparent^ 
close  behind,  telling  of  the  nearness  of  safety  from  further 
pursuit.  Lofty  hills  concealed  Gibeon,  at  his  back,  but 
the  sun  was  still  high  above  them 2  on  its  course  to  the 
west,  and  the  pale  disc  of  the  moon,  then  in  its  third 
quarter,3  showed  white  and  faint  through  the  hailstorm. 
Darkness,  it  was  to  be  feared,  would  come  all  too  soon  and 
stop  the  pursuit ;  the  foe  would  escape  to  the  lowlands,  and 
the  victory  come  short  of  being  decisive  and  final.  It  was 
felt  by  Joshua,  above  all  in  his  host,  to  be  a  supreme 
moment  in  the  story  of  Israel,  and,  as  a  quotation  in 
Scripture  from  an  ancient  record  of  the  heroic  deeds  of  the 
Tribes — the  Book  of  Jasher — informs  us,  the  excitement 
found  utterance  with  him,  as  it  always  does  with  men  of 
such  puritan  spirit,  in  an  appeal  to  God.  “  Sun,”  cried 
he,  doubtless  lifting  up  his  hand  to  the  great  orb,  “stand 
thou  still  upon  Gibeon,  and  thou,  Moon,  in  the  valley  of 
Ajalon.”  “And  the  sun  stood  still  and  the  moon  stayed, 

1  Josh.  x.  11.  2  Josh.  x.  13.  3  Conder,  Pal.  Fund  Reports,  1881,  258. 


XXXIV.] 


BETHHOROH,  BETHEL,  SHILOH. 


185 


until  the  people  had  avenged  themselves  upon  their 
enemies.”  1 

From  Ai  the  way  to  Bethel  is  over  stony  hills.  To 
the  west  of  the  great  mound  is  an  open  valley  which 
sweeps  slowly  round  to  the  track  by  which  we  had  come  ; 
the  road  made  use  of  by  Joshua  when  he  ascended  from 
Jericho;  and,  on  the  north,  another  larger  ravine,  where 
the  ambush  lay  hidden,  ends  in  a  narrow,  rough  pass  lead¬ 
ing  up  to  Bethel.  Bock-cut  tombs,  ancient  cisterns,  and 
three  great  reservoirs  hewn  out  of  the  hard  limestone 
at  Ai,  speak  of  the  importance  of  this  place  in  days  before 
the  Hebrew  conquest.  But  life  has  for  ages  forsaken  it. 

<Bethel  is  one  of  the  most  desolate-looking  places  I 
ever  saw.  Long  round  hills  of  bare  grey  stone,  russet 
spots  of  thorns  and  coarse  herbage  rising  in  their  cracks, 
and  poor  specks  of  ploughing  among  the  stones,  where 
there  was  any  surface  to  be  stirred^  a  small  valley  with  an 
old  tank,  in  the  dry  bottom  of  which  our  tents  were  raised ; 
a  wretched  village  on  the  crest  of  one  of  the  broad-backed 
earth-waves  or  rocky  bubbles  of  hills;  the  cabins  rudely  built 
of  stone  filled  in  with  mud,  though  there  are  two  or  three 
better  houses  of  two  storeys  ;  rough  stone  fences,  with 
some  fig-trees ;  spots  of  lentils  and  grain  in  one  of  the 
valleys,  the  side  of  which  was  nothing  but  weather-worn 
stone ;  sheets  and  shelves  of  rock  everywhere,  unrelieved 
by  any  trees ;  a  few  poor  vines  above  the  village  ;  a  high, 
square,  low-domed  building,  rising  on  the  top  of  the  hill  on 
which  the  village  stands ;  some  ancient  tombs  on  the  sides 
of  the  neighbouring  valleys, — such  is  Bethel.  No  wonder 
the  patriarch  had  to  use  a  stone  for  his  pillow  when  he  lay 
out  on  one  of  the  hills  around ;  it  would  be  hard  to  find 
anything  else,  even  now. 

The  Hebrew  word  Makom,  constantly  translated 
1  See  Geikie’s  Hours  with  the  Bible,  ii.  415. 


186 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


££  place”  by  the  Authorised  Version,1  in  Genesis,  in  con¬ 
nection  with  Bethel,  appears  to  have  been  employed  speci¬ 
ally  for  a  sanctuary  of  the  Canaanites,  as  when  we  read, 
££Ye  shall  utterly  destroy  all  the  places  wherein  the  nations 
which  ye  shall  possess  served  their  gods ; 5,2  and  in  this  sense 
it  is  used  in  the  Talmud  of  the  shrines  regarded  as  law- 

o 


ful  for  Israel  before  the  Temple  was  built.  It  is,  more¬ 
over,  identical  with  the  Arabic  ££  Mukam,”  or  ££  Standing- 
place,”  the  name  given  to  a  holy  shrine  or  consecrated 
spot,  so  that  in  all  ages  the  word  has  had  the  same  special 
application,  universally  understood  in  the  East.  Jacob,  on 
seeking  his  night’s  rest,  would  naturally  avail  himself  of 
the  protection,  ghostly  and  bodily,  of  such  a  local  shrine, 
as  an  Arab  now  takes  up  his  quarters,  if  possible,  beside  a 
Mahommedan  Mukam.  Such  a  ££  place  ”  he  would  at  once 
find  in  the  altar  which  his  grandfather  Abraham  had  built 
between  Bethel  and  Ai,  and  he  would  lie  down  under  its 
shadow  without  the  fear  of  being  injured,  in  the  belief 
that  the  God  of  his  fathers  would  there  look  on  him 
with  favour.  The  spot  was  then  beside  a  town  called  Luz, 
and  got  its  name  of  Bethel  from  the  wondrous  incidents 
associated  with  it  in  Jacob’s  history.  Till  that  time  only 
a  ££  place,”  it  was  henceforth  a  ££  House  of  God.”  The  view 
around,  before  darkness  fell,  consisted,  in  all  likelihood,  only 
of  grey  rounded  hill-tops,  for  Bethel  is  shut  in  by  hills  on 
the  west,  north,  and  east,  although  on  the  south  the  heights 
and  valleys  of  Benjamin  can  be  seen  succeeding  each  other 
almost  to  Jerusalem.  (There  is  only  one  spot  whence  you 
can  look  into  the  valley  of  the  Jordan — that  on  which  the 
ruins  of  an  ancient  church  now  stand,  above  the  village ; 
the  fact  that  it  commands  this  view,  fixing  it  beyond 
question  as  the  spot  on  which  Abraham  and  Lot  must 
have  stood  when  they  looked  over  the  country,  and  Lot’s 
1  Gen.  xxviii.  11  (three  times),  16,  17,  19  ;  xxxv.  7,  11.  2  Deut.  xii.  2. 


XXXIV.] 


BETHHOROH,  BETHEL,  SHILOH. 


187 


choice  fell  on  tlie  ricli  oasis  of  Sodom.1!  On  these  hills,  then 
and  long  after  more  or  less  wooded,2  at  least  with  the 
scrubby  growth  of  a  “  yaar,”  Abraham  pastured  his  flocks, 
which  could  nibble  the  stalks  growing  in  the  thousand 
seams  of  the  rocks.  His  black  tents  were  pitched  on 
these  slopes.  His  camels  grazed  around,  the  foals  follow¬ 
ing  tlieir  mothers  with  the  same  staid,  serious  air  that  we 
notice  in  them  now  among  the  Bedouins.  The  broad¬ 
tailed  sheep  went  forth  from  their  thorn  or  loose  stone 
folds,  with  the  black  goats,  along  these  stony  heights, 
while  the  oxen  and  asses  found  enough  to  support  them 
in  the  small  valleys.  Sarah  prepared  her  cakes  here,  in 
the  hot  ashes  before  the  tents,  and  her  female  slaves  had 
laboriously  shaken  to  and  fro  the  goatskins,  full  of  milk, 
to  make  the  “  leben  ”  and  the  butter.  There  are  four 
springs  at  Bethel,  so  that  it  had  the  attraction  of  plenty  of 
good  water.  A  silence,  broken  b}^  no  sound,  now  reigns 
over  all  things,  but  it  must  have  been  very  different  then 
when  darkness  crept  over  the  earth,  and,  the  watchmen 
having  taken  their  places  with  the  flocks  and  herds,  the 
men  left  in  the  encampment  gathered  round  their  evening 
fires,  to  listen,  before  they  lay  down,  to  the  tales  so  dear 
to  the  Oriental.  Before  I  went  to  bed  I  came  out  to  look 
up  at  the  sky,  which  was  bright  with  innumerable  stars, 
just  as  Abraham  did  well-nigh  four  thousand  years  ago,3 
when  the  voice  in  his  soul  directed  him  to  look  up  to 
their  multitude  and  their  overpowering  glory,  as  a  pledge 
on  the  part  of  the  Almighty  to  bless  him  and  his  pos¬ 
terity. 

Shecliem  alone  of  Palestine  towns  is  mentioned  earlier 
than  Bethel,  Abraham’s  visit  to  it,  as  he  went  to  Egypt, 
and  on  his  return  from  the  Nile,  introducing  it  to  Sacred 

1  Gen.  xiii.  3,  10,  15.  2  2  Kings  ii.  23,  24. 

3  Gen.  xiii.  14 — 18  ;  xv.  5. 


188 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


Story.1  The  altar  he  had  built  on  his  first  sojourn  on 
these  hills  was  the  point  to  which  he  came  hack ;  and 
even  if  Jacob  did  not  know  its  history,  it  would  he  his 
natural  halting-place,  for  the  altar  of  so  great  a  “  prince  ” 
as  Abraham  would  doubtless  be  regarded  as  a  religious 
centre  in  the  district.  That  it  continued  to  he  a  holy 
place  to  Israel  seems  implied  by  the  statement  that  in 
the  days  of  the  J udges  “  the  children  of  Israel  arose  and 
went  up  to  the  house  of  Godf  or  rather,  as  in  the  Hebrew, 
“to  Bethel,”  as  if  the  Tabernacle  were  then  there,2  and  by 
the  notice  in  Samuel  of  “  three  men  going  up  to  God,  to 
Bethel.” 3  It  was  thus,  next  to  Shechem,  the  oldest 
sanctuary  of  the  nation,  so  that  Jeroboam  introduced  no 
innovation  when  he  honoured  it  as  a  holy  place,  though  it 
was  a  bold  stroke  to  set  up  its  ancient  name  against  the 
fresh  honours  of  the  central  Temple,  recently  built  at 
Jerusalem,  and,  above  all,  a  step  wholly  unprincipled  to 
debase  the  national  faith  by  consecrating,  as  an  object  of 
worship,  a  duplicate  of  the  golden  calf  which  had  been  so 
great  an  offence  to  Jehovah  at  Sinai.4  From  this  idolatry 
sprang  the  contemptuous  name  Bethaven,  “  House  of 
Nothingness  ” — that  is,  of  idols — applied  to  Bethel  by  the 
later  prophets,  the  contraction  of  which,  after  a  time,  into 
Bethan  may  have  led  to  the  present  name  Beitin,  which 
has  been  in  use  for  at  least  seven  hundred  years.  It  is 
strange  to  think  that  one  of  the  great  schools  of  the 
prophets  flourished  at  Bethel,  while  the  rival  temple,  with 
its  calf  deity,  was  in  its  glory.5  Still  stranger  is  it  that  this 
great  seat  of  corrupt  religion  was  left  standing  by  Jehu, 
when  he  rooted  out  the  worship  of  Baal  from  Israel.6  But 

1  Gen.  xii.  8,  9  ;  xiii.  3. 

2  So  also  in  the  Septuagint,  hut  the  Vulgate  inserts  the  words  “  which  is 
in  Shiloh  ”  (Jndg.  xx.  18).  Josephus  thinks  Bethel  is  meant  (Ant.  v.  2, 10). 

3  1  Sam.  x.  3.  6  2  Kings  ii.  3. 

4  1  Kings  xii.  28.  6  2  Kings  x.  28. 


XXXIV.]  BETHHOROH,  BETHEL,  SHILOH.  189 

if  it  was  spared  tlien,  the  prophets  Amos  and  Hosea,  at 
a  later  day,  fiercely  assailed  it,  as  also  did  Jeremiah  at 
Jerusalem.1  It  was  left  to  Josiali,  however,  to  destroy 
it,  and  to  defile  its  altars  by  burning  on  them  the  bones 
of  dead  men,  taken  from  the  rock  tombs  down  in  the 
valley.2 

In'  the  earlier  part  of  this  century  Bethel  seems  to 
have  been  entirely  uninhabited,  and  even  now  its  miser¬ 
able  hovels  have  not  a  population,  in  all,  of  more  than 
four  hundred  souls.  A  few  poor  gardens,  fenced  with 
stone  walls,  show  the  struggle  of  man  with  nature. 
But  the  great  past  is  still  kept  from  oblivion  by 
fine  squared  stones  seen  in  the  walls  of  the  tumble- 
down  huts,  and  especially  in  the  great  tank  in  which  we 
found  camping-ground,  for  it  covers  the  whole  breadth  of 
the  little  valley,  and  reminds  one  by  its  length  of  the 
Sultan’s  Pool  at  Jerusalem.  An  abundant  spring  bubbles 
up  in  an  artificial  basin  at  one  end — the  water-supply 
of  the  village  ;  what  is  not  wanted  running  to  waste. 

To  prepare  for  starting  on  our  way  farther  north  was 
each  morning  a  surprisingly  brief  affair.  The  tents  were 
scarcely  left  standing  till  we  had  finished  an  early  break¬ 
fast,  and,  once  begun,  the  process  of  tying  up  and  packing 
on  the  mules  was  a  matter  of  a  few  minutes.  I  often 
thought  of  the  aptness  of  the  Bible  figures  in  which  tents 
and  tent  life  are  introduced,  and  was  more  impressed  by 
them  each  day.  HezekialTs  words,  “  My  [fleshly]  home 
is  broken  up,  and  removed  from  me  as  a  shepherd’s  tent,”3 
rose  forcibly  in  the  mind  when  I  saw  the  tent  which  was 
over  me  one  moment  levelled  with  the  ground  the  next, 
and  in  a  few  minutes  stowed  on  the  back  of  a  pack-mule, 
to  be  carried  off.  When  it  had  been  removed,  no  trace 

1  Amos  iii.  14  ;  iv.  4 ;  v.  5  ;  Jer.  xlviii.  13 ;  Hos.  iv.  15  ;  v.  8 ;  x.  5,  15. 

2  2  Kings  xxiii.  15.  3  Isa.  xxxviii.  12. 


190 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


remained  of  its  ever  having  been  there.  The  metaphor 
that  follows  was  not  less  vivid,  when  one  remembered  the 
weavers  at  Gaza  and  elsewhere — “  I  have  rolled  up  my 
life  as  a  weaver  rolls  up  his  web  when  it  is  finished ;  God 
will  cut  me  off  from  life  as  the  weaver  cuts  off  his  work 
from  the  loom.”  How  sublime  are  the  words  in  which 
Isaiah  speaks  of  God  as  the  Being  “  that  stretcheth  out 
the  heavens  like  [the]  fine  cloth  [of  a  Sultan’s  pavilion], 
and  spreadeth  them  out  as  a  tent  to  dwell  in.”1 

It  is  curious,  by  the  way,  to  notice  how  the  early  tent- 
life  of  the  Hebrews  impressed  itself  on  their  habits  of 
thought  and  speech,  even  to  the  last.  But  they  still  used 
tents  largely  in  Samuel’s  day,2  and  even  later,  and 
Zecliariah  speaks,  at  the  close  of  the  Kingdom,  of  the 
Lord  saving  “  the  tent  ”  of  Judah.3  The  nation,  in  fact, 
never  wholly  gave  up  tent  life,  especially  in  the  hot 
months,  and  the  tribes  beyond  the  Jordan  never  adopted 
any  other.  To  this  very  day,  indeed,  wherever  a  Jew  is 
found,  even  in  the  crowded  courts  of  London,  he  if  it 
be  possible,  raises  a  tent  during  the  week  of  the  Feast 
of  Tabernacles,  in  remembrance  of  the  early  history  of 
his  race. 

From  Bethel  we  took  the  road  to  Shiloh,  which  is 
represented  by  the  village  of  Seilun.  Bireh,  the  ancient 
Beeroth,  lay  about  two  miles  to  the  south-west,  over  the 
hills — a  rambling  hamlet  of  stone  houses,  all  indescrib¬ 
ably  miserable.  Its  name,  “  Springs  ”  or  “  Wells,”  speaks 
of  a  plentiful  supply  of  water,  still  justified  by  a  fine 
spring.  Once  a  town  of  the  Gibeonites,  it  was  assigned 
to  Benjamin,  and  has  the  doubtful  honour  of  being  the 
place  from  which  came  the  two  murderers  of  Ishbosheth.4 

1  Isa.  xl.  22. 

2  1  Sam.  iv.  10;  2  Sam.  xviii.  17 ;  xix.  8  ;  2  Chron.  xxv.  22. 

3  Zech.  xii.  7.  4  Josh.  ix.  17  ;  xviii.  25 ;  2  Sam.  iv.  2. 


XXXIV.] 


BETHHORON,  BETHEL,  SHILOH. 


191 


Still  the  first  halting-place  on  the  way  from  Jerusalem  to 
Nazareth,  it  was  fancied  that  Mary  and  Joseph  had 
wandered  back  from  it  to  the  Temple,  in  search  of  Mary’s 
missing  Son.  But  it  is  quite  as  probable  that  His  absence 
was  noticed  before  the  caravan  reached  Beeroth,  as  all 
such  mixed  companies  halt  at  a  comparatively  short  dis¬ 
tance  '  from  their  place  of  starting,  to  see,  before  they 
go  farther,  that  everything  is  right  and  no  one  left 
behind.  High  on  its  hill,  more  than  2,800  feet  above 
the  sea,  the  village  has  a  wide  outlook  over  the  surround¬ 
ing  country ;  but,  though  strong  and  prosperous  under 
the  Crusaders,  it  is  now  wretched  enough.  It  boasts  the 
ruins  of  a  fine  mediaeval  church,  showing  three  apses ; 
in  its  roofless  area  corn  is  grown.  An  old  khan  near 
the  chief  spring  still  speaks  of  former  travel,  but  it  is 
slowly  falling  to  pieces,  and  only  natives  would  tolerate 
its  dreary  old  stone  arches,  with  the  ground  for  a  sleep¬ 
ing  place,  shared  in  common  by  men,  camels,  horses,  and 
asses. 

To  the  east  of  Bethel,  on  a  high  hill  four  miles  off, 
rose  Bimmon,  the  place  to  which  the  remnant  of  the 
Benjamites  fled  from  the  infuriated  tribes  after  the  out¬ 
rage  on  the  Levite  and  his  wife,1  and  a  mile  beyond  it,  on 
a  high  hill,  shone  Ophrah,  now  El  Taiyebeli.  As  we  went 
on,  the  Dead  Sea  gleamed,  far  down  below  us,  in  its  chasm 
on  our  right,  seemingly  close  at  hand.  The  road,  “  if 
road  it  may  be  called  where  road  was  none,”  led  over  soft 
rounded  hills  and  flat  plains,  with  higher  hills  continually 
coming  into  sight  to  the  north.  Camels  passed  to  the 
south,  laden  with  wheat,  and  the  country  grew  more  fer¬ 
tile,  for  we  were  entering  the  rich  territory  of  Ephraim. 
Three  miles  north  of  Bethel,  on  the  old  Roman  road,  now 
undistinguishable  as  such,  stood  Yabrud,  on  a  hill  to  the 

1  Judg.  xx.  47.  See  p.  162. 


192 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


left  of  tlie  track.  Vines,  witli  fig-  and  olive-trees,  were  here 
in  their  glory,  east,  west,  north,  and  south,  but  it  made  no 
difference  to  the  comfort  of  the  people  now  living  on  the  hills 
of  Joseph,  “rich  with  the  blessings  of  heaven  above,  and  of 
the  deep  that  lieth  under,”1  that  is,  the  springs  from  under¬ 
ground  waters.  The  huts  of  the  village  were  built  closely 
together,  but  so  much  abomination  of  every  kind  bad 
accumulated  in  the  narrow  lane  which  did  duty  for  a 
street,  that  it  was  by  no  means  delightful  to  go  through 
it.  One  of  the  houses  which  we  entered  was  so  full  of 
smoke  that  we  had  to  make  a  hasty  retreat,  only  to 
find  that  others  seemed  even  worse.  A  smouldering  fire 
of  thorns  burnt  slowly  against  the  walls,  and  as  there  was 
neither  window  nor  chimney,  the  smoke  had  to  make  its 
way  out  as  it  best  could,  by  the  door,  which  stood  open, 
though  it  was  too  chilly  to  make  so  much  ventilation 
agreeable.  It  was  in  such  houses  that  the  woman  who 
had  lost  a  piece  of  silver  needed  to  light  a  lamp  even  by 
day,  and  to  turn  the  whole  house  upside  down,  to  find 
her  treasure.2  One  can  imagine  the  simplicity  of  village 
life  in  Christ’s  day  from  that  of  the  present.  The  father 
of  the  household  sat  on  the  ground,  barefooted  and  tur- 
baned,  with  a  patched  cotton  shirt,  and  a  sheepskin  out¬ 
side  in  for  coat,  feeding  the  poor  blaze  with  fresh  thorns. 
To  cook  some  eggs,  the  mother  of  the  family  broke  them 
into  her  solitary  iron  pan,  put  a  piece  of  butter  to  them, 
and  held  them  over  the  fire,  which,  being  only  of  thorns, 
needed  constant  replenishing.  The  Wise  Man  must  often 
have  seen  such  poor  fuel  before  he  said  so  tellingly — 
“  As  the  crackling  of  thorns  under  a  pot,  so  the  laugh¬ 
ter  of  the  fool;  this  also  is  vanity  !”3  A  small  clay  oil- 
lamp  stood  on  a  projecting  stone,  and  sticks  jutted  out  in 
one  corner,  for  the  hens  and  pigeons  of  the  establishment 
1  Gen.  xlix.  25.  2  Luke  xv.  8. 


3  Eccles.  vii.  6. 


XXXIV.] 


BETHHORON,  BETHEL,  SHILOH. 


193 


to  roost  upon.  The  floor  was  higher  in  one  part  than 
in  another  ;  the  former  being  the  place  where  the  mats 
were  laid  for  the  sleeping  accommodation  of  the  human 
part  of  the  household ;  the  latter,  the  night-quarters  of  its 
four-footed  members.  Had  I  chosen  the  honour,  I  should 
have  had,  apparently,  to  lie  down  beside  a  donkey,  hut 
there  were  also  some  goats  about,  which  found  house- 
room  near  the  ass.  The  lamp  kindled,  all  the  house¬ 
hold  lies  down  on  the  floor  to  sleep,  but  not,  as  with  us, 
till  morning,  for  the  cocks  begin  crowing  three  or  four 
hours  before  daylight,  to  the  disturbance  of  anyone  not 
accustomed  to  them.  It  is  to  this  early  crowing  that  our 
Lord  alludes  when  He  says,  “Watch  ye,  therefore:  for 
ye  know  not  when  the  master  of  the  house  cometh,  at 
even,  or  at  midnight,  or  at  the  cockcrowing,  or  in  the 
morning.” 1  The  smallness  of  the  lamp  creates  another 
disturbance  of  slumber,  for  the  housewife  rises  when  she 
thinks  it  nearly  burnt  out,  at  midnight,  or  perhaps  at 
two  in  the  morning,  and,  after  replenishing  it  with  oil, 
begins  her  day’s  work,  by  sitting  down  on  the  ground  to 
grind  the  corn  needed  for  the  approaching  meals ;  and  he 
must  be  a  sound  sleeper  who  is  not  roused  by  the  rough 
music  of  the  millstones.  It  was  such  a  woman  whom 
King  Lemuel  praised — “  She  riseth  while  it  is  yet  night : 
her  candle  goeth  not  out  by  night.” 2 

The  weather  continued  beautiful  as  we  journeyed  on 
through  this  garden  of  Palestine,  amidst  thousands  of 
fig-trees  on  the  lower  slopes  and  in  the  valleys,  with  olives 
over  them,  higher  and  higher  up  the  hills,  which  were 
now  bare  only  at  the  top.  Fields  of  soft  green  stretched 
out  under  the  shade  of  the  orchards,  which  at  one  spot 
reached  up  the  terraced  sides  of  nine  different  hills,  and 
across  the  valleys  between  them.  The  road,  however,  was 

1  Mark  xiii.  35.  2  Prov.  xxxi.  15, 18. 

n 


194 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


very  stony  and  rough,  so  that  though  we  enjoyed  the 
view,  it  is  a  question  if  the  horses  and  mules  were  as 
pleased  with  their  part  of  the  journey.  We  had  with 
us,  in  all,  five  men,  and  ten  mules  and  horses ;  the  five 
attendants  being  a  dragoman,  a  cook,  the  owner  of  the 
beasts,  and  two  men  to  take  care  of  them.  The  beasts 
consisted  of  three  horses  and  seven  mules.  Labour  is 
cheap  in  Palestine,  and  so  is  horse  hire.  Thus  I  found 
afterwards,  at  Damascus,  that  the  hire  of  a  horse  was 
three  francs  a  day  for  a  tour  in  the  Hauran,  that  sum  in¬ 
cluding  a  man  to  take  care  of  it,  and  the  horse’s  keep.1 
Hotel  accommodation  is  equally  low,  for  no  one  who  is 
not  in  the  hands  of  a  tourists’  agent  is  in  any  place 
charged  more  than  seven  or  eight  shillings  a  day,  even 
where  coupons  are  five  or  six  shillings  dearer.  Unfortu¬ 
nately,  I  did  not  know  much  about  horse  hire  or  dragomans 
till  it  was  too  late  to  help  myself,  but  a  friend  kindly  gave 
me  a  useful  hint  at  Joppa  about  hotel  accommodation. 

The  whole  region  through  which  we  were  passing 
was  considerably  over  two  thousand  feet  above  the  sea, 
but  it  continued  beautifully  wooded  with  figs  and  olives, 
even  far  up  the  terraced  hills,  which,  in  many  cases,  were 
crowned  with  a  village.  In  less  than  two  miles  after  j:>ass- 
ing  Yabrud  we  reached  the  Spring  of  the  Pobbers — Ain 
Haramiyeh — a  most  picturesque  spot ;  water  trickling 
freely  from  the  foot  of  a  wall  of  rock  twenty  or  thirty  feet 
high,  covered  with  delightful  green  of  all  shades,  while 
the  steep  hill  above  is  terraced  and  planted  with  olives. 
The  valley  is  contracted  at  this  part  into  a  mere  lane, 
thickly  littered  with  stones  of  all  sizes,  the  narrowness 
shutting  out  any  view  to  a  distance ;  and  this,  with  the 

1  The  charge  made  by  the  Tourist  Office  for  myself  and  a  companion  was 
three  pounds  ten  a  day,  which  was  exceptionally  cheap,  thanks  to  a  local 
friend.  Five  pounds  a  day  is  the  ordinary  charge. 


XXXIV.] 


BETHHOROH,  BETHEL,  SHILOH. 


195 


loneliness  around — so  favourable  to  the  thieves  from 
neighbouring  villages — has  probably  given  the  place  the 
evil  name  it  bears.  An  old  Crusading  fort  or  hostelry, 
once  eighty  feet  in  length,  stands  south  of  the  outflow 
of  water  from  the  rocks,  but  it  is  in  ruins ;  there  are 
also  the  remains  of  an  old,  finely  vaulted  cistern.  The 
grass,  nourished  by  refreshing  moisture,  was  unusually 
thick  and  green  close  to  the  rocks,  and  with  the  ver¬ 
dure  around,  and  the  picturesque  ruins,  made  a  rest 
at  this  spot  very  agreeable.  Some  have  fancied  this 
valley  to  be  that  of  Baca,  througli  which  pilgrims  were 
wont  to  pass  on  the  way  to  Jerusalem,1  but  this  is  based 
on  a  mistake,  for  Baca  must  have  been  some  barren  glen, 
which  the  joy  anticipated  by  those  about  to  appear  before 
Grod  in  Zion  made  as  beautiful  in  their  eyes  as  if  it  were 
“  a  place  of  springs,”  and  as  if  “the  early  rain  had  covered 
it  with  blessings.” 

The  narrow  pass  of  Ain  Haramiyeh  is  one  of  the 
wildest  parts  of  the  road  between  Nablus  and  Jerusalem. 
A  great  hill  rises  about  eleven  hundred  feet  above  the 
pass  on  the  right,  very  steep,  but  terraced  in  some  parts, 
bare  cliffs  of  horizontal  limestone  jutting  out  in  bands 
round  it  at  others.  But  this  lofty  summit  is  dwarfed  by 
another,  a  mile  to  the  south — Tell  Asur — two  hundred 
feet  higher.2  A  ruined  Crusading  fort  looks  down  from 
the  top  of  the  lower  hill,  built  as  a  look-out  by  the  mail- 
clad  warriors  of  the  Christian  kingdom  of  Palestine. 
The  summit  of  the  higher  commands  a  magnificent  view  ; 
the  white  cloud  of  snow  on  Mount  Hermon,  far  away  to 
the  north,  being  clearly  visible  from  it.  The  grandeur  of 
the  Crusading  period  is  not  to  be  realised  except  by  visiting 
the  East ;  most  of  us  forget,  indeed,  that  Christian  princes 
reigned  for  two  centuries  in  the  Holy  Land.  Every  part 

1  Ps.  lxxxiv.  6.  2  3,318  feet  above  the  sea. 

n  2 


196 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


of  tlie  country  bears  witness  to  the  gigantic  energy  of  the 
Western  nations,  great  forts,  churches,  hostelries,  and 
cloisters,  built  as  if  to  Jast  for  era:,  still  remaining 
wherever  one  turns,  to  witness  to  the  mighty  enthusiasm 
which  so  lonsf  animated  Christendom.  Even  at  this 
secluded  spot,  besides  the  stronghold  on  the  hill  to 
the  right,  an  old  Crusading  fortress,  known  as  Baldwin’s 
Tower,  its  name  derived  from  that  of  one  of  the  Latin 
kings  of  Jerusalem,  crowns  the  top  of  a  hill,  six  hundred 
feet  above  the  pass  and  about  a  mile  to  the  south ;  it,  and 
its  neighbour  to  the  right,  standing  as  grim  sentinels  to 
watch  the  road  from  the  north  in  the  old  troublous  times. 
Three  miles  north  of  this,  the  road  brought  us  by  a  steep 
ascent  to  the  village  of  Sinjil,  which  is  only  a  variation 
of  the  name  of  the  Count  de  Saint-Grilles,  who  rested  here 
on  his  way  to  Jerusalem  during  the  first  Crusade.  It  was 
then  an  open  village  of  about  a  hundred  houses,  but  there 
are  not  nearly  so  many  now.  Traces  of  the  old  Homan 
road  are  still  visible  as  you  climb  towards  this  hamlet ; 
kerbs  of  large  stone  enclose  a  causeway,  rough  enough 
to-day,  but  no  doubt  smooth  and  level  when  first  made, 
though  the  narrowness  of  the  track  excites  one’s  wonder. 

The  country  from  Bethel  had  been  not  only  more 
fertile  than  that  nearer  Jerusalem,  but  different  in  its 
features.  The  hills  were  steeper  and  more  rocky  ;  the  valleys 
deeper;  not  seldom  opening  into  plains,  as  at  Turmus  Aya 
on  the  right,  below  the  hill  on  which  Sinjil  stands.  A 
little  over  two  miles  to  the  west,  on  a  height  a  little  lower 
than  that  of  Sinjil,  gleamed  the  houses  of  an  Ephraimitish 
Gilgal,  now  Jiljilieh,  probably  the  place  from  which  Elijah 
set  out  with  Elisha  on  the  way  to  the  Jordan,  just  before 
the  great  prophet  was  taken  up  into  heaven.1  The  drain¬ 
age  of  this  side  of  the  watershed  is  effected  by  watercourses 


XXXIV.] 


BETHHOROH,  BETHEL,  SHILOH. 


197 


running  irregularly  to  tlie  west,  through  valleys  too  steep 
and  rough  to  be  passable  on  horseback,  at  least  as  they 
sink  down  towards  the  sea  plains. 

We  were  now  close  to  Shiloh — the  modern  Seilun — 
to  reach  which  we  turned  off  and  went  along  the  side  of 
the  hill,  to  avoid  passing  near  the  village  of  Turmus  Ay  a, 
the  inhabitants  of  which  have  a  bad  reputation  as  thieves, 
or  worse.  The  plain  at  our  feet  was  in  part  under  cultiva¬ 
tion  ;  in  part  covered  with  orchards  of  figs  and  olives ; 
and  here,  as  elsewhere  in  Ephraim,  there  were  many  vine¬ 
yards  on  the  slopes,  with  watch-towers  in  each.  We 
had  camped  for  the  night  on  the  hill  near  Sinjil,  to 
keep  away  from  dangerous  neighbours,  and  were  on  our 
road  betimes,  but  while  the  tents  were  packing,  numbers 
of  women  and  children  gathered  to  look  for  any  scraps,  so 
poor  are  the  people,  even  in  this  paid  of  the  land.  On  the 
roadside  I  was  interested  by  noticing  a  scarabseus  beetle, 
the  very  creature  so  common  on  the  sculptures  of  Egypt, 
rolling  before  it  a  ball  of  moist  cow-dung,  in  which  its  eggs 
were  to  be  secreted.  It  is  a  broad,  strong  creature,  with 
a  shovel-like  head,  but  its  whole  length  is  not  much  over 
an  inch,  while  the  ball  it  pushes  before  it  is  half  as  much 
more  in  diameter.  How  it  contrives  to  dig  a  hole  large 
enough  to  bury  this  egg-ball  is  hard  to  imagine,  yet 
the  feat  is  less  wonderful  than  that  of  our  own  common 
burying  beetles,  who  play  the  sexton  even  to  the  bodies  of 
little  birds,  sinking  them  into  the  earth  and  covering 
them  in  a  very  short  time.  Among  the  Egyptians,  the 
scarabseus  was  a  symbol  of  the  sun  and  of  creation,  ap¬ 
parently  because  its  ball  is  round  and  life  comes  from  it. 

The  roundabout  we  had  to  make  brought  us  across 
the  plain  a  mile  or  so  north  of  Turmus  Aya ;  the 
village  of  El  Lubban,  hard  to  distinguish  from  the  hill¬ 
side  to  which  it  clung,  straggling  over  the  slope  on  our 


198 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


left :  a  poor  place,  with  a  few  fruit-trees,  stone  walls,  a 
ruined  khan,  a  fine  spring,  and  very  hare  stony  ground 
above  and  around  it. 

The  ruins  of  Shiloh  stand  on  a  low  hill  covered  all  over 
with  a  deep  bed  of  loose  stones.  Belts  of  the  chalky  rock 
girdled  the  surrounding  hills  to  the  top,  the  strata  lying 
horizontally,  and  boulders  strewing  the  rounded  summits. 
The  natural  terraces  formed  by  the  rock-beds  were  here 
and  there  planted  with  fruit-trees,  but  often  left  to  thorns 
and  scrub.  In  a  short  side  valle}^  closed  by  a  hill,  numbers 
of  rock  tombs  had  been  cut  in  the  thicker  bands.  Biding 
to  the  end  of  this,  over  a  track  thick  with  stones  and 
boulders,  we  found  a  fine  spring  at  the  roadside,  with  a 
pool.  A  broken  trough  lay  at  the  side,  and  a  peasant 
was  busy  washing  himself  in  the  beck,  though  it  was 
the  only  drinking-supply.  Stones  around,  hollowed  to 
contain  water,  served  for  the  wants  of  flocks.  A  number 
of  country  people  were  beside  the  fountain,  the  intelligent 
faces  of  the  children  very  pleasant  to  see,  though  here,  as 
elsewhere,  many  were  suffering  from  affections  of  the 
eye.  Some  gardens  of  young  fig-trees  had  been  planted 
at  the  top  of  the  valley,  and  were  enclosed  within  loose 
stone  walls,  but  most  of  the  little  glen  was  lying  wild 
on  both  sides  of  the  white  torrent  bed,  now  dry,  that 
wound  through  it. 

Two  rock  tombs,  once  part  of  the  low  brow  of  rock 
beside  the  spring,  had  become  detached  from  the  hill ; 
one  slipping  forward  in  a  great  mass,  with  a  deeply 
hollowed  round  roof,  and  a  cavity  within ;  the  other 
broken  in  pieces.  Strange  to  say,  there  were  rock-cut 
steps  still  joined  to  the  unbroken  one,  at  the  side.  The 
hill  opposite  was  terraced ;  fig-trees  were  growing  on  the 
ledges,  some  fringing  the  swelling  at  its  top. 

Biding  back  to  the  ruins  themselves,  we  found  them 


XXXIV. 


BETHHOROH,  BETHEL,  SHILOH. 


199 


on  the  breast  of  a  low  swell,  beside  the  poor  modern  village. 
An  oak,  though  of  course  not  like  those  of  England 
for  size,  gave  dignity  to  the  spot,  and  threw  a  shadow 
over  *a  small,  half-ruined  Mahommedan  mosque.  Not 
higher  than  fifteen  or  twenty  feet,  the  inner  space  had 
once  been  vaulted.  Two  chambers,  supported  on  short 
pillars,  with  a  prayer-niche  to  the  south,  filled  up  the 
thirty-seven  feet  of  its  length.  Part  of  it  was  evidently 
very  old  ;  the  rest  spoke  of  different  dates,  and  of  materials 
gathered  from  various  sources.  The  capital  of  one  of 
the  pillars  rested  on  a  disproportionately  thick  shaft,  and 
two  fairly  carved  pieces  of  marble,  each  about  a  yard  loug, 
had  been  built  into  one  of  the  walls.  The  flat  lintel  over 
the  doorway  bore  signs  by  its  ornaments  of  having  form¬ 
erly  done  service  in  an  ancient  synagogue,  or  rock  tomb. 
A  stair  led  up,  inside,  to  the  roof,  which  was  overgrown 
with  rank  weeds,  among  which  were  many  bright  flowers. 
The  walls  were,  in  parts,  not  less  than  four  feet  thick  ; 
elsewhere,  only  half  as  thick.  This  strange  place  may 
have  been  originally  a  Jewish  masonry  tomb :  certainly  it 
cannot  have  been  a  Christian  church. 

The  crown  of  the  low  hill  was  specially  interesting,  for 
it  is  covered  with  very  old  low  walls,  divided  as  though  into 
the  basements  of  many  chambers  of  different  sizes.  Some 
of  the  stones  were  hewn,  others  unhewn,  and  some  of  these 
latter  were  very  large.  The  outline  of  the  whole  was  an 
irregular  square  of,  say,  about  eighty  feet,  with  projections 
on  two  sides ;  the  walls  being  everywhere  very  thick. 
Could  it  be  that  these  were  the  stone  foundations  on 
which,  as  we  know,  the  ancient  Tabernacle  was  raised? 
Had  the  pillars  in  the  mosque  near  at  hand  been  taken 
from  these  ruins  ?  Were  those  low  walls  within,  remains 
of  the  chambers  where  Eli  and  Samuel  had  once  lived  ? 
Were  those  rock-hewn  sepulchres  we  had  seen  in  the  small 


200 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


valley  to  the  east  the  ancient  resting-places  of  the  family 
of  the  ill-fated  high  priest  P 

No  spot  in  Central  Palestine  could  be  more  secluded 
than  this  early  sanctuary ;  nothing  more  featureless  than 
the  landscape  around  ;  so  featureless,  indeed,  the  land¬ 
scape,  and  so  secluded  the  spot,  that  from  the  time  of 
St.  Jerome  till  its  re-discovery  by  Dr.  Robinson  in  1838, 
the  very  site  of  Shiloh  was  forgotten  and  unknown.  The 
Philistines  seem  to  have  destroyed  the  whole  place  after 
the  defeat  of  Eli’s  sons  and  the  loss  of  the  Ark,  though 
the  coverings  of  the  Tabernacle  were  saved  and  carried 
to  Nob,  where  they  continued  for  a  time. 

Before  its  glory  was  thus  eclipsed,  this  place  was 
evidently  as  near  an  approach  to  a  national  sanctuary  as 
Israel  then  had.  “  Behold,”  we  are  told,  “  there  is  a 
feast  of  the  Lord  in  Shiloh  yearly,  in  a  place  which  is  on 
the  north  of  Bethel,  on  the  east  of  the  highway  that 
goetli  up  from  Bethel  to  Shechem,  and  on  the  south 
of  Lebonah.”  1  This  annual  gathering  of  young  and  old 
to  the  religious  festival  honoured  by  all  the  tribes  reminds 
us  of  a  strange  incident  of  ancient  life  enacted  in  this 
quiet  centre.  There  were  great  dances  of  the  Jewish 
maidens,  it  appears,  at  this  festivity,  the  fairest  of  the 
land  trooping  to  the  scene  of  so  much  gladness,  and 
joining  in  it  decked  in  their  best  holiday  attire.  The 
vineyards  then  covering  the  slopes  and  plain  were  thick 
with  foliage  at  the  time,  though  leaving  open  spaces  on 
which  the  bright-eyed  girls  disported  themselves  to  the 
sound  of  the  timbrel  and  the  clapping  of  hands,  as  one 
sees  done  among  Eastern  peasant  women  to-day.  Sud¬ 
denly,  however,  on  this  occasion,  by  pre-arrangement,  from 
the  green  covert  of  the  vines  there  sprang  out  a  host  of 
young  men,  who  each  seized  a  maiden  and  hurried  her  off 

1  Judg.  xxi.  19. 


XXXIV.] 


BETHHOROH,  BETHEL,  SHILOH. 


201 


to  the  south  to  the  hills  of  Benjamin — sadly  in  want  of 
the  fair  sex  since  the  dreadful  massacre  of  the  tribe  by 
united  Israel,  after  the  crime  against  the  Levite  and  his 
wife.1  “The  children  of  Benjamin, ”  we  are  told,  “took 
them  wives,  according  to  the  number  of  them  that  danced, 
whom,  they  caught;”  some,  perhaps,  not  sorry  to  find 
homes  of  their  own,  even  thus  strangely.  A  part  of  the 
plain  to  the  south  of  the  village  is  still  called  “  The 
Meadow  of  the  Feast,”  perhaps  a  reminiscence  of  the  old 
festival,  unless,  indeed,  this  took  place  beside  the  fountain 
east  of  the  village.  The  vine  has  long  ago  disappeared 
from  the  locality,  which,  however,  is  undoubtedly  well 
suited  to  its  growth. 

A  number  of  men  and  hoys  gathered  round  us  while 
we  were  examining  the  ruins,  their  clothing  only  a  blue 
shirt,  with  a  thin  strip  of  leather  round  the  waist  to  keep 
it  close  to  the  body,  and  make  the  upper  part  into  a 
kind  of  bag;  the  “bosom  ”2  in  which  the  peasant  stows 
away  what  we  put  in  our  pockets.  The  number  of  blind 
or  half-blind  among  them  was  most  pitiable.  Acute 
inflammation  of  the  eye  is  allowed  to  go  on  from  stage  to 
stage,  till  the  whole  organ  is  destroyed  by  ulceration.  My 
companion,  a  doctor  in  the  army,  examined  two  or  three 
hoys,  and  found  that  a  slight  ailment  which,  in  more 
favoured  lands,  might  have  been  cured  at  once  by  a  simple 
“  wash,”  had  been  neglected  till  the  sight  was  gone.  One 
can  understand  why  blindness  is  mentioned  in  Scripture 
about  sixty  times,  from  noticing  its  prevalence  in  any  knot 
of  peasants,  all  over  Palestine.  The  sight  of  any  gather¬ 
ing  of  either  sex,  shows  how  natural  it  is  to  find  it  said 
that  our  Lord,  at  a  single  place,  “  gave  sight  to  many 

1  See  p.  162. 

2  Isa.  lx\r.  6,  7  ;  Jer.  xxxii.  18  ;  Luke  vi.  38  ;  Ps.  lxxix.  12 ;  Prov.  xvii.  23  ; 
xxi.  14. 


202  THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE.  [Chap.  XXXIV. 

blind,”  and  that  “  a  great  multitude  of  blind  ”  lay  at  the 
side  of  the  pool  in  Jerusalem ;  and  it  helps  one  at  once  to 
understand,  also,  how  it  came  to  be  specially  given  forth, 
centuries  before,  that  the  Messiah  would  give  recovery  of 
sight  to  the  blind.1  Of  course  the  requests  for  back¬ 
shish  were  continuous ;  but  the  poor  creatures  were  quite 
prepared,  it  seemed,  to  give  as  well  as  to  receive,  for  on 
my  repeating  the  word,  and  holding  out  my  hand  as  if  I 
wanted  something,  a  boy,  in  all  simplicity,  put  his  hand 
inside  the  breast  of  his  shirt  and  pulled  out  some  shrivelled 
figs  to  give  to  me.  It  was  all  he  had,  but  it  was  at  my 
service.  I  need  hardly  say  that  personal  cleanliness  was 
not  carried  to  excess  at  Shiloh,  more  than  elsewhere  in 
Palestine.  Washing  the  face  well  would  probably  have 
saved  some  of  the  peasants  from  blindness,  but  they  have 
no  soap,  I  presume,  and  undoubtedly  no  towels ;  while  as 
to  water,  a  bath  at  rare  intervals  in  the  village  pond  or 
fountain  seems  the  utmost  of  which  anyone  thinks. 


1  Luke  iv.  18  ;  vii.  21 ;  John  v.  3. 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 


TO  GERIZIM. 

Leaving  this  venerable  place,  which  had  long  been  a  de¬ 
serted  ruin,  even  in  the  days  of  Jeremiah,1  we  rode  over  the 
open  plain  along  the  side  of  the  Wady  Seilun — the  Valley 
of  Shiloh ;  the  ground  lying  for  the  time  idle,  hut  covered 
with  the  stubble  of  a  crop  of  Indian  corn,  which  it  had 
borne  the  year  before.  There  were  a  few  olives  here  and 
th  ere,  and  rolling  land  broke  the  level  around ;  for  ground 
without  hills  is  a  rarity  in  Palestine.  Red  anemones 
and  white  cyclamens  abounded,  intermixed  with  other 
flowers  ;  among  them,  if  it  can  be  called  a  flower,  a  curious 
variety  of  the  pitcher  plant,  with  a  bag  on  each  stalk  to 
secrete  water,  as  a  reservoir  from  which  to  quench  its 
thirst  in  the  dry,  burning  heat  that  was  approaching.  An 
hour’s  ride,  of  course  at  the  usual  walking  pace,  brought 
us  close  to  Lebonah,  now  Lubban,  which  we  had  already 
seen  from  a  distance.  The  hill  is  extremely  barren  ;  but 
a  little  green  was  brightening  the  patch  before  the  mud- 
coloured  huts,  and  a  few  olives  were  growing  around. 
There  were  also  a  few  lean  cattle  about.  From  this  point, 
the  plain  is  surrounded  by  hills.  Lebonah  was  a  village 
as  long  ago  as  the  time  of  the  old  Hebrew  Judges,2  and 
it  was  also  one  of  the  places  from  which  the  wine  used  in 
the  Temple  services  was  procured,  though  its  nearness  to 
the  frontier  of  Samaria  raised  a  doubt  in  later  times 
respecting  the  absolute  ceremonial  cleanness  of  anything 

2  Judg.  xxi.  19. 


1  Jer.  vii.  12. 


204 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


brought  from  it,  for  might  not  the  north  wind  blow  some 
polluting  dust  on  the  grapes,  or  into  the  wine-presses,  from 
the  hated  territory  of  the  “  foolish  people  of  Shechem”? 

Climbing  up  a  rough  slope,  amidst  rocks  and  thorny 
growth  that  made  progress  extremely  laborious,  the  road 
soon  bent  downwards  again,  between  stony,  barren  hills, 
though  occasionally  crowned  by  villages  on  both  sides 
of  the  track,  while  groves  of  olives  and  figs  enlivened 
the  view  at  short  intervals.  Close  by  the  road,  just 
after  jmssing  the  village  of  Sawieh,  stood  a  very  large 
khan,  built  of  hewn  stones,  and  fairly  tenantable,  though 
only  as  Orientals  understand  the  phrase.  There  were 
snch  public  hospices  in  the  oldest  times  on  the  chief 
roads  ;  mere  shelters  for  man  and  beast— with  a  supply 
of  water  at  hand — such  as  the  prophet  sighed  after  : 
“lodging  places  of  wayfaring  men  in  the  wilderness.”1 
Jewish  travellers  would  not  sleep  in  Samaritan  territory 
if  it  were  possible  to  avoid  doing  so,  and  hence  this 
khan  was  built  on  the  border,  which  ran  past  the  village 
of  Berkit,  almost  exactly  in  a  line  with  the  hospice. 
At  Sawieh,  therefore,  we  stood  on  the  edge  of  Samaria, 
the  stony  valley  north  of  it  being  the  first  piece  of 
Samaritan  ground.  There  is  a  fine  evergreen  oak-tree  at 
this  place  ;  a  great  rarity  in  the  land,  which,  as  I  have 
often  said,  possesses  hardly  any  large  trees  at  all.  There 
is  another  species  of  oak  which  grows  about  twenty  feet 
high,  and  a  third  which  forms  a  large  part  of  the  stunted 
growth  of  the  hills,  rising  only  from  eight  to  twelve  feet 
in  height ;  but  even  a  single  tree  which  is  respectable  ac¬ 
cording  to  our  ideas,  like  Abraham’s  Oak  at  Hebron  or 
this  one  at  Sawieh,  is  to  be  seen  only  at  very  few  places 
indeed  in  the  Holy  Land. 

Towards  noon,  a  very  steep  ascent  over  step  above  step 

1  Jer.  ix.  2. 


XXXV.] 


TO  GERIZIM. 


205 


of  rock,  up  which  our  horses  had  to  find  a  practicable 
path  as  they  best  could,  brought  us  to  the  top  of  a  ridge 
from  which  the  view  to  the  north  was  magnificent. 
Straight  before  us,  beyond  a  succession  of  lower  hill-tops, 
rose  the  massy  forms  of  Mounts  Ebal  and  Gerizim,  marking 
the  Yalley  of  Shecliem,  where  Abraham  raised  his  first 
altar  in  the  land;  and  then,  far  away  to  the  north,  high  up 
in  the  skies,  shone  a  dazzling  white  cloud — the  snowy 
crown  of  Mount  Hermon.  At  our  feet  was  the  noble  plain 
called  El  Mukhnali — about  nine  miles  from  north  to 
south,  and  four  from  east  to  west — and  on  the  slopes  at 
its  farther  side,  the  village  of  Howarali.  We  were  entering 
a  region  hallowed  by  the  earliest  traditions  of  Israel, 
dating  from  a  time  far  earlier  than  the  wretched  feuds 
between  them  and  the  Samaritans.  In  the  days  of  Joshua 
this  had  justly  been  the  most  famous  part  of  the  country 
not  only  for  its  fertility  and  beauty,  but  as  being  consecrated 
by  the  presence  of  Gerizim,  the  Mount  of  Blessings,  before 
which  the  Tribes  had  held  their  first  great  national  as¬ 
sembly,  and  made  a  formal  covenant  with  Jehovah,  leaving 
the  twelve  stones  inscribed  with  the  law,  and  buried  on 
the  top  of  the  Mount,  as  an  abiding  witness  to  their 
vows.1  In  those  days  Shiloh  alone  shared  with  Shecliem 
the  glory  of  being  a  central  meeting-place  of  the  nation 
for  public  affairs;2  but  Shecliem  had  the  special  honour  of 
seeing  the  people  gathered  in  its  valley  a  second  time, 
just  before  the  death  of  Joshua,  to  renew  the  covenant 
with  God  made  in  the  same  place  long  years  before.3  In 
this  region  the  heroes  of  that  age  lived,  and  here  they 
were  buried.  Five  miles  to  the  east  of  us,  as  we  crossed 
the  ridge,  lay  Kefr  Haris — the  village  of  Haris — recalling 
at  once  “  Heres,”  where  Joshua  was  buried.4  The  claims 
of  Tibneli,  which  were  first  brought  forward  by  Captain 

1  Josh.  viii.  34  2  Josh,  xviii.  1.  3  Josh.  xxlv.  25.  4  Judg.  ii.  9. 


206 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


Conder,  have  already  been  stated;1  those  of  Kefr  Haris 
are  these — that  the  Samaritans  think  it  the  right  spot, 
and  that  Jewish  pilgrims,  seven  hundred  years  ago,  spoke 
of  the  tombs  of  Joshua,  Caleb,  and  Hun  as  being  here. 
Thi  ^ee  hundred  years  ago  one  of  the  Rabbis  wrote  of 
the  monuments  over  the  tombs,  and  of  the  carob  and 
pomegranate  trees  beside  them;  another  gave  a  sketch 
showing  three  domed  buildings,  with  two  trees,  and  lights 
burning  inside  the  domes. 

Descending  from  the  steep  and  stony  ridge  to  a 
grassy  slope,  with  some  caves  in  its  rocky  side,  in  which 
two  or  three  cattle  had  found  coolness  and  shade,  we 
spread  our  mats  on  the  ground  and  had  lunch,  screening 
ourselves  from  the  brightness  as  well  as  we  could  in  the 
shadow  of  the  rocks.  Had  we  known  it,  a  fine  carob-tree, 
a  little  way  farther  on,  would  have  given  us  a  much  more 
satisfactory  resting-place ;  for,  soon  afterwards,  we  came 
upon  one,  from  the  thick  boughs  of  which  fluttered  a 
great  many  bits  of  rags,  it  being  regarded  by  Mahom- 
medans  as  a  holy  tree.  Some  think  that  the  “  green  trees  ” 
mentioned  in  Scripture  as  associated  with  idolatry  among 
the  Jews  were  of  this  kind — the  carob — its  thick,  dark 
green  foliage  distinguishing  it  from  all  others  in  Palestine.2 
As  we  went  across  the  beautiful  plain,  rich  crops  were 
rising  in  every  direction.  Women  in  their  long  blue 
cotton  dresses,  one  or  two  with  babies,  were  busy  pulling 
out  weeds,  to  carry  them  home  as  fodder.  Children  played 
about  near  their  mothers,  and  at  some  places  cattle  and 
calves  wTere  tethered  by  short  ropes,  and  allowed  to  eat 
what  was  within  their  reach.  A  little  later,  about  three 
in  the  afternoon,  other  groups  of  women  and  children,  who 
had  been  busy  at  the  same  task,  were  resting  in  the  field ; 
the  women,  doubtless,  tired  out  with  constant  stooping. 

1  See  Yol.  I.,  p.  47.  2  Judg.  vi.  25  ;  Jer.  ii.  20 ;  iii.  6. 


XXX  Y.] 


TO  GERIZIM. 


207 


The  hills  around,  forming  a  girdle  to  the  valley  on  all 
sides,  rose  in  green  terraces,  step  above  step,  in  the  spaces 
between  the  horizontal  beds  of  limestone  which  were 
jutting  out,  many  of  these  little  plateaus  showing  long 
plantations  of  olive-  and  fig-trees.  A  string  of  camels 
stalked  slowly  past  with  long,  ungainly  strides,  and,  as 
evening  drew  on,  the  women,  with  their  children,  were 
to  he  seen  slowly  wending  their  way  homewards,  with 
large  bundles  of  green-stuff  on  their  heads. 

Near  Howarah  we  came  on  a  natural  pond,  or  hollow, 
of  rain-water,  brown  with  mud.  Peasants  hearing  their 
ploughs  on  their  shoulders  had  stopped  at  it,  and  after 
washing  themselves,  they  turned  towards  Mecca  and 
reverently  said  their  evening  prayer.  The  road  to  the 
village  rose  and  fell  slowly,  in  long  waves,  to  the  west,  hut 
there  was  nothing  to  detain  us  in  the  village  itself.  Much 
more  interesting  was  the  village  of  Awerta,  in  the  middle 
of  the  plain,  about  two  miles  nearly  east  of  Howarah,  for 
in  it  is  a  domed  monument  which  concurrent  tradition, 
both  Jewish  and  Mahommedan,  asserts  to  be  the  tomb  of 
Phinehas,  son  of  the  Eleazar  who  succeeded  his  father  Aaron 
in  the  great  office  of  the  higlr-priesthood.  Not  far  from 
this  another  domed  tomb,  in  a  paved  courtyard,  and  under 
the  shadow  of  a  great  terebinth,  is  said  to  he  that  of 
Eleazar,  who,  in  his  turn,  was  succeeded  as  high  priest 
by  his  son  Phinehas.  There  seems  little  doubt,  indeed, 
that  we  have,  in  these  tombs,  the  true  memorials  of  the 
resting-places  of  the  family  of  Aaron,  and,  if  so,  how 
venerable  is  the  antiquity  to  which  they  carry  us  back  !  The 
great  plain  of  Mukhnah,  across  part  of  which  we  pass  to 
reach  Awerta,  is  an  undulating  expanse,  with  villages 
cresting  the  successive  elevations,  wide  cornfields  stretch¬ 
ing  between  them,  and  olive  plantations  running  along 
the  slopes.  I  know  few  finer  sights  than  this  great 


208 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


breadth  of  fertile  land,  but  perhaps  its  attractiveness 
is  due  in  part  to  contrast  with  the  general  barrenness  of 
Palestine.  Three  or  four  miles  farther  on,  to  the  north-west, 
a  valley  opens  to  the  west  from  the  plain — that  of 
Shechem,  memorable  in  many  ways.  Just  at  the  corner 
where  you  turn  into  it  from  the  open  ground,  and  close  to 
the  foot  of  Gerizim,  is  the  hamlet  of  Balata,  the  name 
of  which  among  the  Samaritans  is  “  The  Holy  Oak  ”  or 
“  The  Tree  of  Grace.”  This  name  strengthens  the  force 
of  the  identification  of  this  site  by  St.  Jerome  with  that 
of  the  Oak  of  Shechem  or  of  Moreh1 — under  which 
Abraham  pitched  his  tent  and  built  his  altar — the  first 
sanctuary  of  Jehovah  in  the  Land  of  Promise.  It  was 
under  that  tree,  long  since  gone,  that  Jacob  buried  the 
terapliim  of  Bach  el  and  the  idolatrous  amulets  of  his 
household,  and  under,  or  near  it,  he,  too,  built  an  altar, 
which  he  dedicated  to  El  Elohe  Israel — God,  the  God  of 
Israel ; 2  his  habitual  caution  being  shown  in  his  first 
buying  the  land  on  which  he  £C  spread  his  tent,”  and  which 
he  consecrated  to  Jehovah.3  At  a  later  date,  Joshua,  also, 
recognised  this  ancient  holy  place  of  his  nation,  by  “  set¬ 
ting  up  a  great  stone  under  an  oak  that  was  by  the 
sanctuary  of  God,”  as  a  witness  which  had  “  heard  all  the 
words  of  the  Lord  which  He  spake ;  ” 4  as  if  in  very 
deed  the  great  commander  had  thought  that  the  stone 
consecrated  by  him  to  Jehovah  was  in  some  sense  connected 
with  the  Deity  from  that  time.  The  belief  that  conse¬ 
crated  stones  become  in  some  way  habitations  of  the 
Being  to  whom  they  are  dedicated,  has  been  held  in 
every  age  by  men  at  a  particular  stage  of  intellectual  or 
religious  development,  as  we  see  in  the  “  holy  stones  ”  of 
our  own  country,  which  have  enjoyed  the  superstitious 


1  Gen.  xii.  6,  oak,  not  plain. 

2  Gen.  xxxiii.  20. 


3  Gen.  xxxiii.  19. 

4  Josh.  xxiv.  27. 


XXXV.] 


TO  GERIZ1M. 


209 


reverence  of  the  peasantry  almost  to  the  present  day.  In 
the  same  spirit,  Arnobius,  a  teacher  of  rhetoric  in  the 
Homan  province  of  Africa,  and  after  a  time  a  Christian 
Father,  confesses,  in  the  fourth  century,  that  before 
becoming  a  Christian,  “  whenever  he  espied  an  anointed 
stone,  or  one  bedaubed  with  oil,  he  worshipped  it,  as  though 
some  person  dwelt  in  it,  and,  addressing  himself  to  it, 
begged  blessings  from  a  senseless  stock.”  The  oak  in 
Joshua’s  narrative  was  doubtless  that  under  which 
Abraham  and  Jacob  had  raised  their  altar,  and  that  altar 
was  Joshua’s  “  Sanctuary  of  God.”  At  a  later  time,  when 
the  primitive  tradition  of  the  spot  had  become  corrupted, 
an  oak  at  some  distance  from  Shechem  was  spoken  of  as 
“  The  Oak  of  the  Meonenim,”  1  or  Soothsayers;  but  that 
of  Abraham  and  Jacob  was  here,  or  very  close  by. 

Close  to  this  site  of  the  earliest  sanctuary  in  the 
land  is  still  to  be  seen  the  well  which  Jacob  caused  to  be 
dug.  As  it  is  near  magnificent  springs  gushing  from  the 
roots  of  Gerizim,  and  liowing  to  the  east,  his  undertaking 
so  heavy  a  task  as  sinking  so  deep  a  well  and  building  a 
wall  round  the  excavation  can  only  be  explained  by  the 
jealousy  with  which  the  Canaanites,  like  all  Eastern 
peoples,  no  doubt  regarded  their  own  springs.  To  have 
trusted  to  these,  would  have  been  to  invite  trouble  in 
the  future  :  it  was  therefore  very  much  better  for  the 
patriarch  to  have  a  well  on  his  own  property,  so  as  to  be 
independent  of  his  neighbours.  This  Well  of  Samaria 
lies  a  little  off  the  road,  on  the  right  hand ;  the  track  skirt¬ 
ing  the  left  slope  of  the  valley.  Turning  my  horse  down 
the  rough  side  of  the  road,  it  was  a  very  short  way,  over 
stony,  unused  ground,  to  the  sacred  spot.  There  is  nothing 
visible  now,  above  ground.  A  little  chapel,  about  twenty 
feet  long,  once  built  over  the  well,  has  long  ago  fallen, 

1  Judg.  ix.  67. 

O 


210  THE  HOLY  LAND  AHD  THE  BIBLE.  [Chap. 

its  stones  lying  in  rough  heaps  outside  and  around  the 
opening  below;  not  a  few  of  them,  I  fear,  at  the  bottom, 
helping  to  fill  up  the  shaft.  The  ground  slopes  up  to  the 
fragments  of  the  broken-down  wall,  and  you  have  to  let 
yourself  down  as  you  best  can  to  reach  the  wrell  itself. 
The  church  dates  from  the  fifth  century,  hut,  except  the  e 
stones,  the  only  traces  of  it  are  some  remains  of  tesselated 
pavements  and  carved  stones,  which  are  hidden  beneath 
rubbish,  but  were  seen  by  the  Palestine  Surveyors. 

Over  the  well  is  a  great  stone  with  a  round  hole  in 
the  middle,  large  enough  for  the  skin  buckets  of  the 
peasantry  to  pass  down.  How  old  this  covering  is  no 
one  can  say,1  but  the  well  itself,  beyond  the  possibility 
of  doubt,  is  that  at  the  side  of  which,  perhaps  on  some 
masonry  long  since  gone,  our  blessed  Lord  sat,  nearly 
nineteen  hundred  years  ago,  while  the  disciples  had  gone 
up  the  little  valley  to  Shechem,  a  mile  to  the  west.2 
The  woman  whom  He  met,  and  with  whom  He  held  dis¬ 
course,  came  from  Sychar,  a  little  village  now  called  Askar, 
just  round  the  north  corner  of  the  valley,  on  the  slope  of 
Ebal,  not  half  as  far  off  as  Shechem.  The  well  is  seven 
feet  and  a  half  across,  and  its  depth,  which  some  centuries 
ago  wras  105  feet,  is  still  about  seventy-five  feet,  though, 
for  ages,  every  visitor  has  thrown  down  stones,  to 
hear  the  echo  when  they  strike  the  bottom.  Thus  the 
well  is  still  £‘  deep,”  and  it  must  have  been  much  deeper 
in  the  time  of  our  Lord.  It  is  cut  through  a  thick 
bed  of  soil,  swept  down  in  the  course  of  ages  by  the 
rains  from  the  hills  on  each  side ;  and  beneath  this 
great  deposit,  it  passes  through  soft  rock ;  the  water 
filtering  in  through  the  sides,  to  the  depth,  occasionally, 
of  about  twelve  feet,  even  yet,  though  it  is  now  dry  in 

1  Captain  Conder  thinks  it  certainly  not  older  than  the  12th  Century  A.D. 

*  John  iv.  5 — 30. 


XXXV.] 


TO  GERIZIM. 


211 


summer,  and  sometimes  for  years  together.  It  is  thus 
^rather  a  “beer,”  or  rain  pit,  than  a  spring  well,  so  that 
when  our  Lord  told  the  woman  that,  if  she  had  asked  Him, 
He  would  have  given  her,  not  rain-water,  such  as  she  gave 
Him,  but  “  living  water,”  it  must  have  struck  her  greatly. 
Over  forty  years  ago,  a  boy  was  induced  to  allow  himself 
to  be  let  down  for  the  apparently  hopeless  purpose  of  find¬ 
ing  and  bringing  up  again  a  Bible,  dropped  into  the  well 
accidentally  three  years  before,  and,  strange  to  say,  he 
found  it,  the  bottom  being  quite  dry  at  the  time.  The 
depth  was  then  said  to  be  exactly  seventy-five  feet.  Captain 
Anderson  also  went  down,  in  1866,  but  had  a  perilous 
descent,  for  after  passing  through  the  round  hole  in  the 
covering  stone,  and  through  a  narrow  neck,  four  feet  long, 
requiring  him  to  raise  his  arms  over  his  head,  he  fainted 
away,  and  only  recovered  consciousness  after  lying  for  a 
time  insensible  on  the  stones  below.  The  mouth  and 
upper  part  of  the  well  he  found  to  be  of  masonry,  with 
which,  indeed,  the  whole  of  it  had  the  appearance  of  having 
been  lined.  To  sink  such  a  shaft,  seven  and  a  half  feet 
broad,  through  perhaps  a  hundred  and  fifty  feet  of  earth 
and  rock,  was  an  undertaking  involving  no  little  skill,  as 
well  as  a  large  outlay,  and  its  existence  is  a  proof  both  of 
the  enterprise  and  of  the  wealth  of  the  patriarch. 

Our  Lord  must  have  sat  with  His  face  to  the  south¬ 
west,  since  He  speaks  of  Grerizim  as  “  this  mountain.” 
He  may  have  pointed  to  it  by  a  movement  of  the  head, 
or  with  His  finger,  as  He  uttered  the  words  which  pro¬ 
claimed  the  cessation  of  all  great  local  centres  of  worship 
as  exclusively  holy.  “Woman,  believe  me,  the  hour 
cometh  when  ye  shall  neither  on  this  mountain,  nor  yet 
at  Jerusalem,  worship  the  Father,”  but  true  worshippers 
were  to  “worship  the  Father  in  spirit  and  in  truth.”1 

1  Jolm  iv.  21,  23. 

o  2 


212  THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE.  [Chap. 

Around  Him  were  the  same  sights  as  are  before  the  visitor 
of  to-day — the  rich  side  valley  running  up  westward,  to 
Shechem,  with  a  rippling  streamlet  in  its  centre  ;  the  groves 
that  border  the  town,  hiding  the  houses  themselves  from 
view;  the  heights  of  Gerizim,  towering  in  rounded  masses 
one  over  another,  to  a  great  height,  close  before  Him  on 
the  south.  Mount  Ebal,  steep,  but  terraced  almost  to  the 
top  into  gardens  of  prickly  pear,  which  is  grown  for  its 
fruit,  lay  behind  Him,  the  little  hamlet  of  Balata,  where 
Abraham’s  altar  once  stood  under  the  sacred  tree,  the 
mud-huts  of  Sychar  and  the  dome  of  Joseph’s  tomb  being 
at  its  foot.  To  the  east  stretched  away  the  great  plain,  which 
for  miles  each  way  was  then  “white  already  to  harvest;” 
beyond  it  were  the  hallowed  site  of  Salem,  near  to  Enon, 
where  His  herald  the  Baptist  had  preached,  and  the  wooded 
hill  of  Phinehas,  with  the  tomb  of  the  once  fiery  High  Priest. 

The  traditional  tomb  of  Joseph  lies  about  six  hundred 
yards  north  of  the  well,  beside  a  little  mosque  with  a  low 
dome.  Jews,  Samaritans,  and  Christians  alike  accept  it 
as  the  actual  place  of  the  burial  of  the  patriarch,  and  it  is 
quite  possible  that  if  it  could  be  opened  we  should  find  his 
mummy  below,  for  we  read  that  the  children  of  Israel 
brought  the  hones  of  J oseph  from  Egypt  and  buried  them 
in  Shechem,  in  a  parcel  of  ground  which  Jacob  bought, 
and  that  it  became  the  inheritance  of  the  sons  of  Joseph.1 
The  tomb  stands  in  a  little  yard  close  to  the  mosque,  at 
the  end  of  a  fine  row  of  olive-  and  fig-trees,  and  enclosed 
by  a  low  stone  wall.  Two  low  pillars  stand  at  the  head 
and 'foot  of  the  tomb,  their  tops  hollowed  out  and  blackened 
by  fire;  the  Jews  making  a  practice  of  burning  small 
articles,  such  as  gold  lace,  shawls,  or  handkerchiefs,  in 
these  saucer-like  cups,  in  memory  of  the  patriarch  who 
sleeps  beneath. 


1  Josh.  xxiv.  32. 


XXXV.] 


TO  GERIZIM. 


213 


The  V alley  of  Shechem  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
places  in  the  Holy  Land.  Flowing  water,  lofty  mount¬ 
ains,  rich  vegetation,  and  even  the  singing  of  birds  among 
the  hill-side  copses  or  the  rich  olive-groves,  unite  to  make 
it  delightful.  There  are  three  large  springs  in  the  valley, 
running  in  a  broad  stream  past  the  Turkish  barracks, 
which  are  on  the  left  hand,  commanding  the  approach  to 
Shechem,  or  Nablus  as  it  is  now  called,  by  a  contraction  of 
the  Roman  name  Neapolis,  which  means,  like  Naples,  “The 
New  City.”  On  the  open  space  east  of  this  large  building, 
a  great  number  of  Armenian  pilgrims  had  pitched  their 
tents  beneath  the  olive-trees,  their  horses  and  mules 
hobbling  round  with  feet  tied  together,  while  the  owners 
rested  and  enjoyed  themselves — for  a  merry  set  they 
appeared  to  be.  Beyond  the  barracks,  great  numbers  of  the 
townspeople  were  amusing  tilt  mselves  in  the  staid  fashion 
of  Orientals,  it  being  Friday,  the  Mahommedan  Sunday. 
The  women  were  all  hidden  by  long  white  veils  descending 
io  the  ground,  before  and  behind;  the  men  were  in  all 
colours.  Passing  round  the  town  on  the  underside,  to 
the  east,  and  mounting  through  some  very  dilapidated 
roads  to  higher  ground  on  the  farther  side,  we  found  our 
tents  pitched  among  olive-trees,  just  below  the  Mahom¬ 
medan  cemetery,  with  the  pleasant  prospect  of  having  no 
water  to  drink  but  from  a  spring  which  bubbled  out  close 
to  us  on  the  slope,  after  percolating  through  some  acres 
of  graves.  Such  a  situation  never  strikes  an  Oriental  as 
undesirable  for  an  encampment  :  indeed,  it  seems  the  rule 
to  choose  graveyards  for  this  purpose,  and  it  was  only  by 
great  efforts  that  I  could  get  water  brought  from  above 
the  cemetery  to  cook  our  dinner. 

Nablus  at  last  lay  before  us,  a  town  of  domes  and 
minarets,  more  attractive  from  without,  as  it  proved,  than 
from  within.  To  the  right,  looking  down  the  valley,  rose 

n  lJ  n 


214  THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE.  [Chap. 

Gerizim,  in  bold,  angular  masses  of  rock  ;  on  tlie  left,  Ebal, 
witli  its  many  terraces  of  prickly  pear.  Nablus  has  twenty- 
seven  soap  and  olive-oil  works,  and  great  mounds  of  soap 
asbes  rose  near  us  like  low  bills,  numbers  of  masterless 
dogs  basking  on  tliem,  or  wandering  about  till  night  set 
them  free  to  roam  tbe  town,  from  wbicb  tbey  are  quite 
aware  tbey  must  keep  away  during  tbe  day.  So  it  is  to 
be  in  tbe  New  Jerusalem  :  dogs,  despised  and  unclean 
creatures  in  tbe  East,  are  there  to  be  “  without.”1  Beyond 
tbe  town  tbe  valley  was  so  narrow  that  a  few  olive  and  fig 
plantations  filled  it  from  bill  to  bill.  There  were  no  town 
walls  worth  mention,  and  tbe  town  gates  seem  long  ago  to 
have  been  removed,  or  to  stand  open  permanently.  Inside 
tbe  town,  tbe  streets  were  much  like  those  of  Jerusalem, 
though  a  great  proportion  of  them  were  vaulted  over, 
making  them  both  dark  and  dirty.  Tbe  houses  were  of 
stone,  with  few  windows,  small  projecting  lattices — nicely 
carved  in  many  cases — and  low  doors,  here  and  there 
adorned  with  texts  from  tbe  Koran,  as  a  sign  that  tbe 
owner  bad  been  to  Mecca.  Some  were  several  storeys 
high,  and  of  an  imposing  appearance,  but  tbe  great  ma¬ 
jority  were  low  and  mean.  Tbe  town  is  very  small,  but  it 
extends  a  considerable  distance  from  east  to  west,  in  wbicb 
direction  tbe  two  principal  streets  run.  One  of  these  was 
full  of  moving  life,  wbicb  one  could  see,  as  there  was  no 
arch  overhead,  but  tbe  side  lanes  were  mostly  built  over, 
and  many  bad  a  filthy  sunken  path  for  beasts  in  tbe 
middle.  No  place  could  be  more  easily  made  clean  and 
sweet,  for  water  is  to  be  bad  in  any  quantity  from  tbe 
high  slopes  behind,  and,  indeed,  streams  run  down  tbe 
western  streets,  but  tbe  others  are  left  in  their  foulness, 
with  dogs  for  tbe  only  scavengers,  except  in  winter,  when 
they  are  well  scoured  by  wild  torrents  of  rain. 

1  Hev.  xxii.  15. 


XXXV.] 


TO  GERIZIM. 


215 


It  is  only  witliin  the  last  few  years  that  Christians 
have  been  able  to  move  about  free7y  in  Nablus,  except  in 
the  sunken  middle  of  the  streets  ;  but  the  Mahommedans 
are  less  ferocious  now  than  they  used  to  be.  In  the  east 
of  the  town,  a  great  mosque,  once  a  church  dedicated  by 
the  Crusaders  to  St.  John,  speaks  of  the  ancient  strength 
of  their  garrison.  It  is  touching  to  see  it,  with  the  finely 
carved,  deep  gate,  of  three  recessed  arches  and  delicate 
side  pillars,  in  the  hands  of  the  barbarian,  and  one  can 
only  hope  that  the  Cross  may  some  day  again  take  the 
place  of  the  Crescent. 

The  house  of  the  Protestant  missionary  was  natur¬ 
ally  an  attraction,  but  it  was  not  easy  to  reach  it 
through  the  labyrinth  of  cross  alleys  and  lanes.  In 
Europe,  the  variety  in  the  look  of  the  streets  helps  one  to 
remember  a  route,  but  it  is  no  easy  matter  to  make  one’s 
way  in  an  Eastern  town,  between  rows  of  blank  walls 
often  darkened  by  vaulted  aread(  s.  The  view  from  the 
parsonage,  when  I  reached  it,  was,  however,  very  attractive. 
Itich  green  rose  everywhere  among  the  yellow  buildings. 
Gerizim  towered  on  the  south,  and  on  the  north  the  still 
higher  Ebal  lifted  its  great  bulk  to  the  heavens.  The 
former  hill  is  much  more  cut  into  clefts  and  distinct  parts 
than  the  latter,  and  the  Hebrews  were  justified  in  regard¬ 
ing  it  as  the  Mount  of  Blessings,  apart  from  special  reli¬ 
gious  causes,  because  of  the  abundant  streams  which  pour 
forth  out  of  its  depths  and  make  the  valley  the  richest 
in  the  land.  The  slope  of  the  strata  being  to  the  north, 
Ebal  is  prevented  from  contributing  in  the  same  way 
to  the  local  fertility.  Evening  spread  its  shadows  over 
the  valley  long  before  the  glorious  hills  faded  into  dark 
masses — for  in  their  outlines  they  were  still  visible  under 
the  stars.  Nablus  is  one  of  the  towns  in  the  East 
where  the  practice,  familiar  in  the  days  of  our  Lord,  of 


216 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


celebrating  marriages  and  bringing  home  tbe  bride  during 
the  night,  is  still  observed.  Drums,  fifes,  shouts,  and 
rejoicings  break  the  stillness  as  late  as  ten  o’clock ;  old 
and  young  pouring  out  to  see  the  procession — the 
maidens  in  their  best,  the  bridegroom  and  his  companions, 
the  bride  deeply  veiled,  the  musicians,  the  crowd,  and 
above  all,  the  flaming  lights,  which  give  animation  to 
the  whole.1 

The  ascent  of  Gerizim  is  made  on  horseback,  but  a 
good  part  of  the  way  is  so  steep  that  it  seems  wonderful 
that  the  beasts  can  keep  their  footing  among  the  loose 
stones.  Passing  up  behind  the  town,  you  come  very  soon 
to  a  magnificent  fountain,  the  water  of  which  is  led  east¬ 
wards  by  an  open  watercourse.  At  this  copious  source 
some  women  were  drawing  for  their  households,  others 
were  washing  their  unsavoury  linen;  men  were  enjoying 
their  ablutions,  and  boys  were  playing  in  the  water. 
Gardens  climbed  the  hill  on  the  left  of  the  track,  beautiful 
with  every  fruit-tree  that  grows  in  Palestine ;  and  at 
some  places  grain  was  springing  up  vigorously  on  terraces 
raised  upon  slopes  so  steep  that  it  seemed  impossible 
their  walls  could  permanently  stand.  Vines,  olives,  and 
figs  filled  stray  nooks ;  but  the  part  of  the  hill  up  which 
our  horses  had  to  toil  was  too  stony  for  any  cultivation 
whatever.  At  several  places  the  limestone  stood  out  in 
bold  cliffs  which  seemed  to  overhang  the  town,  several  of 
them  forming  natural  pulpits,  from  any  one  of  which 
Jotham  may  have  delivered  his  famous  parable,  the 
earliest  of  which  we  know.2  When  about  to  utter  it,  this 
surviving  member  of  the  family  of  Gideon  had  suddenly 
shown  himself  on  one  of  these  projecting  shelves  of  rock, 
inaccessible  from  below,  but  open  for  escape  to  the  mount¬ 
ain  behind.  The  olive,  the  fig-tree,  the  vine,  the  brier, 

J  Matt.  xxv.  1  if.  2  Judg.  ix.  7  ffi. 


XXXV.] 


TO  GERIZIM. 


217 


the  bramble,  and  the  thorn,  introduced  by  him  as  the 
speakers  in  his  parable,  were  all  within  view  around,  orna¬ 
menting  the  valley  or  the  terraces  with  their  silver- 
grey  or  green  foliage,  or  flinging  festoons  from  tree  to 
tree,  or  creeping  over  the  barren  side  of  the  mountain. 
To  compare  Abimelech  to  the  worthless  bramble,  used 
then,  doubtless,  as  now,  for  the  quickly  kindled,  fiercely 
up-blazing,  but  speedily  burnt-out  fires  of  the  tent, 
the  household,  or  the  local  altar,  was  no  less  vigorous 
than  true,  and  we  cannot  wonder  that  Jotham,  the  mo¬ 
ment  words  so  scathing  had  ended,  fled  into  distant 
security. 

After  a  weary  climb  we  reached  the  top  of  the  mount¬ 
ain,  but  had  a  long  way  to  ride  before  we  arrived  at  the 
farther  end.  The  narrow  plateau,  now  sloping  upwards, 
now  undulating,  now  consisting  of  rough  shelves  of  rock, 
was  partly  ploughed  for  grain,  partly  sown  ;  stone  walls 
separated  some  of  the  patches,  and  a  terraced  road  at  one 
point  stretched  for  a  good  distance.  The  spot  where  the 
Samaritans  still  sacrifice  seven  Paschal  lambs  is  very  near 
the  east  end  of  the  ridge,  and  thus  close  to  the  true  peak 
of  Gierizim.  A  pit,  or  “tannur,”  in  which  the  lambs  are 
roasted,  was  all  that  appeared  of  last  year’s  solemnity,  and 
Easter  was  not  to  return  till  the  twenty-ninth  of  April. 
A  loose  stone  wall  enclosed  a  space  in  which  the  prepara¬ 
tion  of  the  carcases  for  roasting  takes  place ;  the  wool 
being*  removed  with  water  boiled  over  a  huge  fire  of 
brambles.  A  raised  bank  in  this  enclosure  further  marked 
where  the  priests  stand  during  the  ceremony,  while  a 
shallow  trench  showed  where  the  sheep  are  fleeced.  Near 
this  sacred  spot  the  whole  community  spend  the  night  of 
the  Passover  in  tents,  eating  the  lamb  at  sundown,  with 
bread  and  bitter  herbs,  after  the  old  Hebrew  mode.1 


1  Ex.  xii.  8. 


218 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


Bejrnnd  this,  to  the  east,  the  highest  part  of  the  mountain 
is  crowned  with  the  ruins  of  a  castle  and  a  church  ;  a 
Greek  cross  remaining  over  one  of  the  gateways  of  the 
former.  It  dates  from  the  early  age  of  the  Greek  emperors, 
having  been  built  apparently  by  Justinian,  or  at  a  yet 
earlier  period.  The  ruins  show  that  it  must  have  been  a 
very  strong  fortress,  for  its  walls  are  nine  feet  thick,  and 
extend  180  feet  north  and  south,  by  230  feet  east  and 
west,  with  four  corner  towers  and  one  in  the  centre, 
each  about  thirty  feet  square ;  and  there  is  a  huge  reser¬ 
voir  for  water,  measuring  120  feet  east  and  west,  by 
sixty  feet  north  and  south.  The  church  has  been  quite 
levelled  with  the  ground,  but  some  courses  of  the  castle 
walls  are  still  standing.  To  raise  such  buildings  on  such 
a  spot,  more  than  twelve  hundred  feet  above  the  plain 
below,  must  have  involved  immense  labour. 

I  confess,  however,  that  I  was  more  interested  in  the 
Samaritan  than  in  the  Christian  ruins,  carrying  back  the 
mind,  as  the  former  do,  to  a  period  before  the  Captivity 
of  Judah.  A  rock  is  pointed  out — merely  a  sloping  shelf 
of  limestone — on  which  Joshua  is  said  to  have  reared  the 
Tabernacle ;  and  a  little  rock-sunk  trench  is  dignified  as 
the  scene  of  Abraham’s  sacrifice,  though  it  appears  to  be 
as  certain  as  anything  can  well  be  that  the  patriarch  went 
to  Mount  Moriah  at  Jerusalem,  not  to  Gerizim.1  Joshua, 
as  w^e  know,  after  having  “  placed  the  blessings  and  the 
cursings  ”  on  Gerizim  and  Ebal,  wrote  the  whole  law  on 
stones  which  he  set  up  on  Ebal;2  coating  them  with  the 
almost  imperishable  cement  of  the  country,  and  writing  on 
it,  either  with  paint  or  with  an  iron  style  or  pen,  while  it 
was  soft.  Such  a  mode  of  preserving  writing  was  common 
in  antiquity,  and  in  so  dry  a  climate  would  last  almost  for 
ever.  The  Samaritans  believe  that  “  the  twelve  stones  ” 


1  See  Yol.  I.,  p.  454. 


2  Deut.  xxvii.  2 — 8. 


XXXV.] 


TO  GERIZIM. 


219 


thus  inscribed  are  still  in  existence  on  tlie  top  of  Mount 
Gerizim,  but  Sir  Charles  Wilson  and  Major  Anderson 
excavated  the  large  masses  of  rudely  hewn  stone  supposed 
to  be  those  of  Joshua,  and  found  them  to  be  little  better 
than  mere  natural  slabs.  Underneath  them  were  two  other 
courses  of  stones,  rudely  dressed  and  unsquared,  but  there 
was  nothing  on  them,  and  the  whole  appeared  to  be 
nothing  more  than  part  of  one  of  the  many  terraces,  or 
paths,  which  surround  the  early  Christian  ruins ;  or  they 
may,  with  some  similar  remains,  be  the  last  fragments  of 
the  temple  built  by  Sanballat  on  Gerizim,  in  opposition 
to  that  of  Jerusalem;1  or,  again,  part  of  the  fortress  of 
Justinian. 

The  natural  amphitheatre  formed  by  the  receding  of 
Mounts  Ebal  and  Gerizim  at  the  same  point  in  the  valley 
below,  is  wonderfully  suited  to  such  an  incident  as  that 
of  reading  the  law  to  the  Hebrews,  at  the  great  assembly 
of  the  nation  after  the  taking  of  Ai  by  Joshua.2  The 
curse  was  to  be  put  on  Mount  Ebal  and  the  blessing  on 
Mount  Gerizim,  half  of  the  tribes  standing  on  Gerizim, 
responding  to  blessings  and  affirming  them ;  half  on  Ebal, 
taking  the  same  part  with  the  curses;  while  both  blessings 
and  curses  were  pronounced  by  the  Levites,  who  were 
grouped  round  the  Ark  in  the  centre  of  the  valley.  At 
this,  its  widest  point,  the  open  ground,  elsewhere  for  the 
most  part  only  a  furlong  broad,  is  about  half  a  mile  across, 
but  the  tops  of  the  two  mountains  are  two  miles  asunder, 
while  Gerizim  rises  1,250  feet,  and  Ebal  nearly  1,500  feet, 
above  the  plain.3  Ho  sight  could  well  have  been  grander 
than  this  singular  spectacle ;  the  Levites  in  their  white 

1  Palestine  Memoirs,  ii.  188. 

2  Deufc.  xxvii.  12  ££.;  Josh.  viii.  34. 

3  Gerizim,  1,249  feet;  Ebal,  1,477  feet.  Gerizim  is  2,849  feet  above  the 
sea;  Ebal,  3,077. 


220 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


robes,  guarding  the  sacred  Ark  on  the  gentle  rise — the 
Shechem,  or  shoulder,  which  parts  the  waters  flowing  to 
the  Dead  Sea  from  those  running*  towards  the  Mediter- 
ranean — and  “  all  Israel,  and  their  elders,  and  officers, 
and  their  judges,”  in  two  vast  companies,  lining  the 
sides  of  the  two  mountains,  tribe  by  tribe,  in  ascending 
ranks,  from  the  valley  to  the  utmost  height  ;  the  glorious 
sky  over  them  as  the  only  fitting  roof  of  such  a  temple. 
That  all  the  assembled  myriads  could  easily  hear  the 
words  of  the  Levites  admits  of  no  question,  for  the  air 
of  Palestine  is  so  clear  and  dry  that  the  voice  can  be 
heard  at  distances  much  greater  than  the  residents  in 
other  countries  would  suppose.  Sir  Charles  Wilson  tells 
us,  for  example,  that  the  Arab  workmen  on  the  top  of 
Gerizim  often  conversed  without  effort  with  men  pass¬ 
ing  along  the  valley  beneath.  Besides,  the  Blessings  and 
Curses  of  the  Law  would  be  as  familiar  to  Israel  as  the 
Litany  or  the  Ten  Commandments  are  to  us,  so  that  the 
responses  would  be  instinctively  ready  as  the  reader 
finished  each  clause. 

The  view  from  the  top  of  Mount  Gerizim  is  of  amazing 
extent  and  interest — the  bare  and  desolate  slopes  of  Ebal, 
watered  only  by  rain  from  cisterns  on  the  successive 
terraces  that  have  been  raised  with  much  labour  on  its 
sides,  since  all  the  springs  run  through  the  strata,  to 
the  north  side  of  the  mountain ;  the  cactus  gardens  on 
the  lower  terraces ;  the  corn  rising  on  many  of  those 
higher  up,  but  the  great  bare  mass  of  the  hill  swelling  to 
the  sky  above  ;  the  valley  below,  with  its  gardens  and 
orchards,  the  mosque  at  Joseph’s  Tomb,  the  Well  of 
Samaria,  and,  just  outside  on  the  plain,  the  village  of 
Sychar — a  poor  hamlet  on  the  rocky  slope  of  Ebal,  which 
swells  up  in  slow  waves  behind  it ;  the  glorious  plain 
of  Mukhnah — “the  Encampment” — with  its  fields  of 


XXXV.] 


TO  GERIZIM. 


221 


rich  brown  tilth ;  stray  villages  on  its  low  nndulations ; 
clumps  of  olives  beside  them;  and,  on  the  other  side,  to 
the  east,  a  long  succession  of  round-topped  hills,  cultivated 
in  terraces  wherever  there  is  a  shelf  for  soil ;  while  the 
distant  landscape  is  sprinkled  with  olives,  their  grey  inter¬ 
mixed  with  the  green  of  the  cornfields.  On  the  west  we 
could  see  Joppa,  thirty-six  miles  off,  at  the  sea ;  to  the 
east,  the  chasm  of  the  Jordan,  eighteen  miles  distant ; 
while  at  our  feet,  as  if  to  bring  us  hack  from  poetry  to 
prose,  the  poles  of  the  telegraph  from  Joppa  stood  up  in  their 
bareness  along  the  valley,  running  past  Jacob’s  Well,  and 
then  south  to  Jerusalem  and  Egypt,  and  east  to  Gilead. 

The  view  from  Ebal,  however,  is  even  finer.  On  the 
north  you  see  Safed,  “the  city  set  on  a  hill,”1  and  the 
snowy  head  of  Mount  Hermon,  with  “  Tliirza,”  once  the 
capital  of  the  northern  kingdom,  famed  for  its  beauty,2 
shining  out  on  a  very  steep  hill  a  little  way  beyond  the 
plain  :  on  the  west,  Joppa,  and  Ramleli,  and  the  sea  ;  on 
the  south,  the  hills  over  Bethel ;  and  on  the  east,  the 
great  plain  of  the  Hauran,  beyond  the  Jordan.  A  striking 
ruin  on  the  summit  of  the  mountain  gives  romance  even 
to  the  Hill  of  Curses.  The  enclosure  is  over  ninety  feet 
square,  and  the  walls  are  no  less  than  twenty  feet  thick, 
strongly  built  of  selected  unhewn  stones,  without  mortar, 
with  the  remains  of  chambers  ten  feet  square  inside. 
Within  the  building,  moreover,  is  a  cistern,  and  round  it 
are  heaps  of  stones  and  ruins.  Excavation  has  thrown  no 
light  on  the  history  of  the  structure.  It  is  too  small  for 
a  church,  for  there  is  only  a  space  fifty  feet  square  inside 
the  amazing  walls,  and  there  is  no  trace  of  any  plaster  or 
cement,  such  as  is  associated  with  the  incident  of  the  great 
stones  which  Joshua  set  up,  or  with  any  altar  that  he 
may  have  raised  on  the  mountain.  Strange  to  say,  some 
1  Matt.  y.  14.  2  Cant.  vi.  4  ;  1  Kings  xiv.  17 ;  xv.  2],  33  ;  xvi.  8  £f. 


222 


THE  HOLT  LAND  A  HI)  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


peasant  had  carried  his  plough  up  to  the  top  of  the 
mountain,  and  had  raised  a  fine  crop  of  lentils,  perhaps  in 
the  hope  that,  at  such  a  height,  they  might  escape  the 
greedy  eyes  of  the  Turkish  officials. 

Guided  to  their  quarter  by  the  excellent  missionary, 
I  was  able  to  pay  a  lengthened  visit  to  the  remnant 
of  Samaritans  still  living  in  Nablus.  To  find  the  way 
to  them  alone  would  be,  I  should  think,  impossible,  so 
numerous  were  the  dark  arches,  cross  lanes,  and  slums 
through  which  the  road  lay.  This  most  interesting  com¬ 
munity  has  increased  of  late  years  from  135  to  160  souls, 
so  that  it  is  not  actually  dying  out,  nor  does  it  seem 
likely  to  do  so,  the  young  men  being  very  tall,  strong, 
and  handsome.  The  calamity  of  ignorance  weighs  upon 
them  all,  however,  even  physically,  for  there  are  several 
cases  of  imperfect  sight,  and  of  other  troubles  which  a 
little  knowledge  might  have  averted.  The  synagogue  was 
a  very  modest  room,  of  small  size,  and  in  no  respect  fitted 
up  ecclesiastically,  though  for  courtesy  we  took  off  our 
boots  on  entering.  In  a  recess  at  one  side  were  the 
famous  manuscripts  of  the  Pentateuch,  two  of  which 
were  brought  out  and  shown  us,  though  there  is  a  third 
of  still  greater  age,  seen  by  Mr.  Drake  and  others,  and 
said  to  be  written  on  the  skins  of  about  twenty  rams, 
slain  as  thank-offerings,  the  writing  being  on  the  side 
where  the  hair  originally  was.  It  is  small  and  irregular, 
with  the  lines  far  apart,  the  ink  faded  and  purplish, 
the  parchment  much  torn,  very  yellow,  and  patched ;  the 
edges  bound  with  green  silk.  Down  the  centre  of  the 
scroll,  on  the  back,  is  said  to  run  a  curious  feat  of  skill. 
By  thickening  one  or  two  letters  of  a  vertical  column  this 
inscription  is  alleged  to  have  been  created  :  “  I,  Abishua, 
son  of  Phinehas,  son  of  Eleazar,  son  of  Aaron  the  priest — 
the  favour  of  Jehovah  be  upon  them — for  His  glory  I  have 


XXXV.] 


TO  GERIZIM. 


223 


Vvritten  this  Holy  Torah  [law]  in  the  entrance  of  the 
Tabernacle  on  Mount  Gerizim,  near  Bethel,  in  the  thir¬ 
teenth  year  of  the  possession  by  the  Children  of  Israel  of 
the  Land  of  Canaan  and  all  its  boundaries ;  I  thank  the 
Lord.”  Unfortunately  for  the  authenticity  of  this  amazing 
inscription,  there  are  great  numbers  of  Samaritan  rolls  on 
which  it  appears,  the  same  name,  place,  and  date  of  com¬ 
position  being  given  in  each  case.  The  two  venerable 
documents  which  I  saw  are  on  rolls,  with  silk  covers, 
embroidered  on  the  outside  with  gold  letters  as  a  title. 
The  writing  is  very  old,  and,  of  course,  illegible  to  any¬ 
one  who  does  not  know  Samaritan.  The  form  of  the 
letters  is  said  by  Captain  Conder  to  be  not  older  than  the 
seventh  century  of  our  era. 

The  High  Priest,  a  young  man,  had  his  portrait  to  sell, 
after  he  had  previously  secured  a  gratuity.  He  is  tall  and 
thin,  with  a  long,  oval  face,  light  complexion,  and  good 
features  of  a  strictly  Jewish  type;  but  this  by  no  means 
implies  that  he  is  of  pure  Jewish  blood,  since  the  immi¬ 
grants  sent  to  Samaria  to  colonise  the  country,  after  the 
Ten  Tribes  had  as  a  body  been  carried  off,  were  them¬ 
selves  Semitic,  and,  to  judge  from  the  monuments,  must 
have  been  practically  undistinguishable  from  Hebrews. 
There  was  no  attempt  at  official  dignity,  but  the  friendliest 
equality  amongst  all,  though  it  is  very  different  when  the 
priestly  robes  have  invested  the  leader  with  his  eccle¬ 
siastical  dignity.  Most  of  the  conversation  I  had  with  them 
was  on  the  theme  about  which  they  were  most  concerned — - 
their  earnest  desire  to  have  an  English  teacher  who  should 
content  himself  with  lessons  from  the  five  books  of  Moses, 
which  alone  are  canonical  with  them.  “  We  have  no 
one,”  said  the  High  Priest,  pathetically,  “  who  can  teach 
the  common  branches  of  education,  and  we  want  an 
English  as  well  as  an  Arabic  training.  We  should  like 


224 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


to  know  geography,  writing,  grammar,  and  history.  We 
have  tried  your  societies,  hut  they  will  not  send  anyone 
to  us  if  we  do  not  let  him  teach  the  whole  of  the  Old  and 
the  New  Testament.”  I  could  not  help  thinking  that  to 
refuse  an  overture  to  teach  from  the  Pentateuch  alone  was 
a  great  mistake,  for  it  is  part  of  the  Word  of  God,  and 
even  where  the  whole  Scripture  is  nominally  the  reading- 
book,  teaching  is  practically  confined  to  a  part  of  it.  The 
Samaritans,  moreover,  are  bright,  and  easily  taught ;  in¬ 
deed,  they  are  said  to  have  been  in  such  repute  before 
the  time  of  Ibrahim  Pasha,  fifty  years  ago,  as  to  hold 
a  special  firman,  entitling  them  to  exclusive  employment 
in  Sy  ria  as  scribes.1 

The  Protestant  Mission  has  a  school  at  which  I  found 
thirty-four  girls  and  thirty-nine  boys,  of  course  in  separate 
buildings,  to  suit  the  ideas  of  the  East,  but  the  teachers 
seemed  exclusively  natives,  which  I  could  not  help  think¬ 
ing  a  great  mistake.  The  school,  in  missions  generally, 
is  the  supreme  hope  ;  and  in  my  opinion,  until  British 
missionaries,  like  the  American,  enter  on  their  work  duly 
trained  to  be  themselves  teachers,  day  by  day,  in  their 
own  schools,  and  faithfully  give  themselves  to  this  work, 
the  results  will  be  very  far  from  justifying  the  great 
expenditure  involved.  A  missionary’s  life  in  Palestine, 
if  he  be  not  a  schoolmaster,  is  as  nearly  as  possible  a 
sinecure.  At  Nablus,  for  example,  the  only  congrega¬ 
tion  consists  of  the  few  Greek  Christians  in  the  town. 
Mahommedans  can  only  be  reached  by  the  school,  which 
is  attended  by  some  of  their  children.  But  of  what  use 
can  a  poor  native  teacher  be,  with  a  varnish  of  know¬ 
ledge  over  hereditary  ignorance,  in  comparison  with  a 
European,  born  in  the  faith,  and  full  of  light  and  intelli¬ 
gence  ?  The  books  used  by  the  scholars  were,  I  found, 

1  Palestine  Memoirs,  ii.  219. 


XXXV.] 


TO  GERIZIM. 


225 


from  the  American  Arabic  printing-press  at  Beyrout,  as 
are  all  the  school  books  of  every  kind,  not  only  in  Syria 
and  Palestine,  bnt  in  the  valley  of  the  Nile,  along  the 
North  of  Africa,  and  over  every  part  of  Western  Asia. 

But  I  must  not  leave  the  Samaritans  without  a  few 
words  about  the  last  survivors  of  a  people  so  venerable. 
Following  the  same  customs  and  religious  usages  as  their 
forefathers  for  at  least  2,500  years,  and,  like  them, 
marrying  only  amongst  themselves,  they  offer  a  pheno¬ 
menon  perhaps  unique,  for  it  was  not  every  Jew,  even 
in  St.  Paul’s  day,  who  could  say  that  he  was  of  pure 
Hebrew  blood.1  Not  that  the  Samaritans  are  pure  Jews  ; 
they  are  descended  from  Jews  of  the  Ten  Tribes  who 
escaped  deportation  to  Babylon  and  probably  inter¬ 
married  with  the  Semitic  settlers  sent  into  their  coun¬ 
try  from  the  East  by  the  Assyrian  kings,  after  Samaria 
had  fallen.2  The  Jewish  element,  however,  won  the  less 
earnest  religiousness  of  the  heathen  immigrants  to  its 
side,  with  the  result  of  creating  in  the  end  a  zealous  wor¬ 
ship  of  Jehovah  and  repudiation  of  idolatry.  Proud  of 
their  descent  from  the  Ten  Tribes,  and  unwilling  to  admit 
that  it  was  tainted,  their  national  spirit  had  already  made 
them  intensely  Jewish  in  their  feelings  before  the  return 
of  Judah  from  its  captivity  in  Babylon,  and  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  but  for  the  narrow  policy  of  Ezra  in 
secluding  his  community  from  all  relations  with  them, 
they  would  have  joined  him  with  all  loyalty,  and  accepted 
Jerusalem  as  their  religious  centre.  But  the  spirit  of 
Pabbinism,  with  its  fierce  exclusiveness  and  hatreds,  was 
dominant  in  the  great  Reformer,  and  Jew  and  Samaritan 
became  mortal  enemies.  The  Five  Books  of  Moses  were 
adopted  as  their  only  sacred  writings,  but  it  is  not  easy  to 
say  whence  they  got  their  earliest  copy  of  the  Pentateuch. 

1  Phil.  iii.  5.  2  2  Kings  xvii.  24. 


V 


226  THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE.  [Chap. 

Most  probably  it  was  procured  from  the  Jews  at  Jerusalem, 
on  their  return  from  Babylon,  and  before  the  two  races 
finally  quarrelled.  The  oldest  manuscript  now  in  their 
possession  was  written,  apparently,  as  long  ago  as  the 
time  of  Christ,  though  some  give  it  a  later  origin  ;  but  in 
any  case  it  is  the  oldest  copy,  by  centuries,  of  any  part 
of  the  Scriptures.  When  refused  by  Ezra  any  share  in 
the  building  of  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem,  the  Samaritans, 
in  their  rage  and  hatred,  built  a  rival  sanctuary  on  Mount 
Grerizim ;  Manasseh,  brother  of  the  Jewish  High  Priest, 
and  son-in-law  of  Sanballat,  being  its  first  High  Priest. 
Two  hundred  years  later,  in  the  second  century  before 
Christ,  this  hated  building  was  razed  to  the  ground  by 
John  Hju'canus — an  act  of  destruction  which  increased, 
if  possible,  the  terrible  bitterness  between  the  two 
peoples.  A  broad,  flat  surface  of  rock  on  the  summit 
of  Mount  Grerizim  is  still  revered  by  the  Samaritans  of 
to-day  as  the  spot  where  their  temple  once  stood :  a 
spot  so  holy  to  them  that  they  would  deem  it  a  sin  to 
step  upon  it  with  shod  feet.  Whenever  they  pray,  more¬ 
over,  they  turn  their  faces  to  this  point,  as  the  Mahom- 
medans  turn  towards  Mecca,  and  as  the  Jews  in  Babylon 
and  elsewhere  turned  towards  Jerusalem.1  Nothing  could 
be  more  bitter  than  the  hostility  which  existed,  genera¬ 
tion  after  generation,  between  Shechem  and  the  Holy 
City.  “  The  foolish  people  that  dwell  at  Shechem,’'  says 
the  Son  of  Sirach ; 2  and  even  our  Lord,  to  prevent  His 
message  being  at  once  rejected  by  the  Jews,  had  to  com¬ 
mand  His  disciples  not  to  enter  into  any  city  of  the 
Samaritans,  who  were  classed  with  the  heathen.3  St. 
John,  indeed,  appears  as  if  he  wished  almost  to  apologise 
for  his  Master’s  presence  at  Jacob’s  Well,  by  telling  us  that 

1  Dan.  vi.  10  ;  2  Chron.  vi.  34 ;  1  Kings  viii.  44 ;  Ps.  v.  7 ;  J onali  ii.  4. 

2  Ecclus.  1.  26.  3  Matt.  x.  5. 


XXXV.] 


TO  GrEBJZIM. 


227 


“He  must  needs  go  through  Samaria.”1  Since  the  fall  of 
Jerusalem  the  history  of  the  Samaritans  is  that  of  gradual 
extinction.  Thousands  at  a  time  were  put  to  death  under 
the  Roman  emperors  because  of  their  political  restlessness, 
and,  as  we  have  seen,  they  have  now  dwindled  to  fewer 
than  200,  old  and  young. 

It  was  impossible  to  leave  a  place  so  charming  as  the 
valley  of  Sliechem  without  a  final  stroll  down  the  plain. 
A  fresh,  glorious  spring  morning  invited  it.  Nature  was 
in  all  her  beauty.  Fine  walnut-trees  rose  over  thick 
groves  of  almond,  pomegranate,  orange,  olive,  pear,  and 
plum  trees,  from  wdiose  branches  came  the  music  of  birds. 
Thousands  of  cyclamens,  red  anemones,  and  dwarf  tulips 
looked  up  from  amidst  the  green.  The  blessings  of  J oseph 
indeed  prevailed  “  unto  the  utmost  bounds  of  the  ever¬ 
lasting  hills.” 2  Wherever  the  rich  streams  could  be 
led,  fertility  was  luxuriant;  but  high  up  on  the  far-off 
shelves  and  cliffs  of  the  mountains,  scorched  and  split  as 
they  are  by  the  sun,  the  Israelite  long  ago  learned  to 
look  to  the  heavens,  knowing  that,  to  obtain  a  harvest  in 
that  lofty  and  arid  region,  the  clouds  must  give  their  rain 
and  dew. 

South  of  the  great  mass  of  the  Lebanon  Mountains, 
Palestine  has  no  central  chain,  with  offshoots  east  and 
west,  but,  in  place  of  it,  a  lower  range,  running  south¬ 
wards  half-way  between  the  Mediterranean  and  the  Head 
Sea,  at  an  elevation  so  closely  corresponding  to  that  of 
the  nearly  level  summits  all  over  the  land  that  the 
watershed  of  the  country  is  often  hard  to  recognise,  ex¬ 
cept  from  the  direction  in  which  streams  are  flowing.  In 
the  valley  of  Shechem,  the  point  at  which  water  parts 
to  the  Head  Sea  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  Ocean  on 
the  other,  is  in  the  middle  of  the  town  of  Nablus. 

1  John  iv.  4.  2  Gen.  xlix.  26  ;  Deut.  xxxiii.  13 — 15. 

p  2 


228 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


Some  of  its  brooks  flow  east,  others  west,  and  it  is  from 
this,  as  I  have  intimated,  that  the  old  name  Shechem — a 
“  Shoulder  ” — is  derived.  To  walk  by  the  side  of  gently 
murmuring  or  silent  waters  is  so  rare  a  pleasure  in  such 
a  land  that  one  can  realise  the  force  of  the  words  uttered 
by  David — “  The  Lord  is  my  shepherd,  I  shall  not  want ; 
He  maketh  me  to  lie  down  in  green  pastures ;  He  leadeth 
me  beside  the  still  waters/’1  What  a  long  history  crowded 
on  my  mind  as  I  looked  around  !  Before  Shechem  was 
built,  Abraham  and  Lot  had  pitched  their  black*  tents  on 
the  plain  through  which  I  had  walked ;  their  long-eared, 
great-tailed  sheep,  and  black  goats,  their  tall  solemn 
camels,  and  their  small-sized  oxen,  had  here  nibbled 
the  grass  or  twigs,  the  cactus  or  flowers ;  Sarah  and  her 
women-slaves,  of  course  duly  veiled,  had  glided  about  over 
these  very  risings  and  sinkings  of  the  valley,  and  the  stal¬ 
wart  herdsmen  had  watered  their  charge  out  of  the  rippling 
brook,  still  flowing  over  its  bed  of  shining  white  stones 
as  it  did  in  the  bright  mornings  nearly  four  thousand  years 
ago.  Here  lived  Jacob  and  his  wives — poor  Leah  and 
favoured  Rachel — and  the  slave-mothers  of  so  many  of  his 
sons ;  and  all  his  children  except  Benjamin,  who  was  not 
yet  born,  ran  over  these  slopes  and  waded  in  this  stream. 
Here,  the  Tribes  had  often  gathered,  from  Dan  on  the 
north  and  Beersheba  on  the  south,  after  that  first  great 
assembly  in  Joshua’s  day ;  their  great  attraction  to  this 
spot  being  not  only  its  beauty,  but  the  altar  of  their  fore¬ 
fathers  under  the  sacred  oak,  the  first,  simple  approach 
to  a  national  sanctuary.  Here  the  great  assembly  of  the 
nation,  after  the  death  of  Solomon,  had  been  held,  with 
results  disastrous  to  Israel,  through  the  wrongheadedness 
and  folly  of  the  wise  man’s  son.  Jeroboam,  the  fugi¬ 
tive,  returned  from  Egypt — the  man  who  had  the  fortunes 

1  Ps.  xxiii.  1,  2. 


XXXV.] 


TO  GERIZIM. 


229 


of  his  country  in  his  hand — raised  his  tents  somewhere 
near.  Temperate  and  shrewd,  but  firm,  he  here  made  his 
proposal  of  reform  on  behalf  of  the  Ten  Tribes ;  and  the 
insulting  reception  that  was  given  to  it  was  followed  by 
the  wild  cry,  from  ten  thousand  voices — “  What  portion 
have  we  in  David  P  Neither  have  we  inheritance  in  the  son 
of  Jesse  !  To  your  tents,  0  Israel ;  now,  see  to  thine  own 
house,  David  !  ”  1  “  Then  Jeroboam  built  Sliechem  ;  ”  2 

that  is,  I  suppose,  changed  it  from  a  poor  hamlet  or 
village  to  a  fine  town.  Here,  too,  centuries  later,  came  a 
Descendant  of  Rehoboam,  in  simple  dress  ;  Claimant  of  a 
throne,  like  His  ancestor,  but  a  throne  in  the  souls  of  men  ; 
and  here  He  sat,  weary,  by  Jacob’s  Well,  leaving  us  im¬ 
mortal  words  spoken  to  a  humble  woman,  perhaps  a  distant 
offspring  of  some  one  of  those  who,  in  the  long  past,  had 
turned  their  backs  on  the  line  of  David. 

Three  miles  east  of  Shechem,  at  the  head  of  the 
great  Wady  Farah,  which  has  in  all  ages  been  the 
highway  from  the  Damieh  ford  of  the  Jordan  to 
Shechem,  there  are  great  springs,  marking  the  spot 
where  lay  Salem,  the  scene  of  the  later  work  of  John 
the  Baptist,  “near  to  Enon,”  “because  there  was  much 
water  there.”  3  The  springs  rise  in  open  ground  amidst 
bare  and  unattractive  hills,  and  flow  down  the  slope, 
through  a  skirting  of  oleanders,  in  a  strong  brook  which 
grows  deeper  on  its  way  from  the  addition  of  numerous 
small  streams.  The  village  of  Salem  is  a  wretched  col¬ 
lection  of  stone  huts,  square  and  flat-roofed,  with  a  tree, 
large  for  Palestine,  near  them,  enclosed  within  a  stone  wall 
for  preservation,  and  with  a  few  olives  dotting  the  bare 
slopes.  Looking  westward,  the  eye  crosses  the  great  plain 
and  travels  up  the  valley  of  Shechem,  but  around  Salem 
itself  there  is  nothiug  at  all  attractive.  To  make  the 

2  1  King’s  xii.  25.  3  Jelm  iii.  23. 


1  1  Kings  xii.  16. 


230 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE.  [Chap.  XXXV. 


identification  with  John’s  Salem  complete,  there  is  a  vil¬ 
lage  called  Ainun  four  miles  north  of  the  principal  stream. 
With  abundant  water  flowing  all  the  year  round,  a  central 
position,  free  space  for  the  crowds,  and  a  situation  on  the 
edge  of  the  descent  to  the  Jordan,  of  which  the  waters  of 
the  neighbourhood  are,  south  of  the  plain  of  Esdraelon, 
the  main  tributary  on  the  west,  no  position  more  favour¬ 
able  in  every  way  could  have  been  chosen  by  the  Baptist 
for  his  work.  That  he  once  raised  his  earnest  voice  in 
regions  now  so  silent  and  forlorn,  casts  an  interest  over 
the  landscape  more  powerful  than  it  could  otherwise  have 
had,  even  had  it  possessed  great  natural  attractions. 


CHAPTEE  XXXVI. 


THE  CITY  OF  SAMAEIA. 

Breaking  up  our  encampment  at  Shechem,  where,  by  tbe 
way,  we  had  a  formal  visit  from  the  commandant  of  the 
garrison,  with  its  usual  accompaniment  of  coffee  and  idle 
talk,  we  took  the  road  to  the  town  of  Samaria,  up  the 
valley  to  the  west.  As  we  left,  some  weavers  were  busy 
at  their  looms,  flinging  the  shuttle  hither  and  thither,  as 
they  did  when  Job  spoke  of  his  days  being  swifter  than 
its  restless  flight.1  Some  fig-trees  were  in  full  leaf, 
although  it  was  so  early  as  the  14th  of  March  ;  others 
were  not  yet  green,  but  the  olives  were  arrayed  in  all  their 
beauty,  for  they  keep  their  foliage  all  the  year  round.  A 
little  way  out  of  Shechem  the  water  in  the  centre  of  the 
very  narrow  glen  ran  to  the  west,  driving  a  mill.  The 
slopes  on  each  side  were  beautifully  green ;  and,  as  we  ad¬ 
vanced,  streams  from  the  hills  swelled  that  in  the  valley 
till  the  mills  became  so  frequent  that  one  might  fancy 
they  were  there  to  mark  the  miles.  After  a  time 
our  way  turned  nearly  north,  up  a  gentle  slope  which 
had  no  brook,  and  for  some  distance  the  ground  was 
covered  with  stones  and  thorny  bushes.  Tillages  on  the 
rounded  hill-tops,  bedded  in  green  fields  and  groves 
of  olives,  looked  down  on  us  from  the  south  before  we 
left  the  valley,  but  there  was  less  beauty  around  those 
on  its  northern  side.  The  broad  bald  ridge  was  ere  long 


1  Job  vil  6. 


232 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


passed,  and  we  descended,  once  more,  to  a  fertile  valley, 
watered  by  gurgling  brooks.  A  fine  mill  and  orchards  of 
pear-trees  marked  the  village  nearest  Samaria,  and  for  a 
long  time  before  we  reached  our  destination  all  the  hill¬ 
sides  were  clad  with  fig  and  olive  orchards.  It  took  us 
about  two  hours  to  go  from  Shechem  to  the  old  capital 
of  the  northern  kingdom. 

The  beauty  of  the  country  round  the  city  of  Samaria 
abundantly  justifies  Omri’s  choice.  It  is  lovely  on  all 
sides,  but  especially  towards  the  south.  In  every  direc¬ 
tion  hills  of  soft  velvet-green,  terraced  step  above  step 
to  the  top,  give  the  eye  a  delightful  feast.  The  hill 
of  Samaria  rises  from  400  to  500  feet  above  the  valley, 
and  is  isolated  on  all  sides  except  the  east,  where  it 
sinks  into  a  narrow  ridge  about  200  feet  below  the 
general  level,  and  running  towards  Ebal.  A  circle  of 
green  hills  looks  down  upon  it,  but  it  must  have  been 
almost  impregnable  in  the  early  ages,  for  it  stands  up 
apart  like  a  great  boss  on  a  buckler,  with  steep  ascents 
affording  easy  defence  from  any  attack.  To  starve  the 
population  into  submission  must  have  been  the  only  way 
to  take  it,  if  it  resolved  to  hold  out.  Ascending  by 
a  rather  steep  path  through  the  modern  village,  a  poor 
collection  of  ill-built  huts,  we  pitched  our  tents  on  a  flat 
space  on  the  top  of  the  hill,  used  as  the  threshing-floor 
by  the  villagers,  and  proceeded  to  walk  round  the  sum¬ 
mit,  and  also  to  visit  the  ruined  Church  of  St.  John,  at 
the  entrance  to  the  place.  This  fine  relic  is  a  striking 
memorial  of  Crusading  genius  and  energy,  though  a  por¬ 
tion  of  it  is  now  degraded  into  a  mosque.  A  palm  was 
growing  in  its  courtyard,  and  on  the  edge  of  the  hill  were 
fragments  of  an  old  wall  of  squared  stones.  The  church, 
of  which  the  south-eastern  portion  is  the  best  preserved, 
lay  immediately  to  the  right  of  this  wall.  Admission  into 


XXXVI.] 


THE  CITY  OF  SAMARIA. 


233 


tlie  once  sacred  enclosure  was  easily  obtained.  Slabs  of 
marble  still  paved  the  ground,  and  others,  with  effaced 
crosses,  were  at  many  places  built  into  the  walls.  The 
very  doorsill  was  marble.  Pillars  of  marble  stood  along 
the  court,  half  their  circle  projecting  out  of  the  walls, 
with  capitals  carved  into  palm-leaves.  The  mosque  is 
built  inside  the  shell  of  the  church,  and  is  in  no  way 
worth  notice  for  its  own  sake,  though  the  marble  slabs 
in  the  walls  with  their  sacred  emblems  obliterated  can¬ 
not  fail  to  speak  to  the  heart  of  a  Christian.  A  dark 
stair  of  twenty-one  steps  leads  down  to  a  cave  in  which 
there  are  five  modern  tombs,  three  of  them  with  holes 
in  the  plaster  to  let  one  look  in,  with  the  help  of 
a  light,  although  there  is  nothing  whatever  to  be  seen 
inside.  St.  John  the  Baptist  and  Obadiah  are  said  to 
have  been  buried  here,  but  the  tradition  has  no  reliable 
foundation. 

The  building  was  the  creation  of  the  Knights  of  St. 
John,  in  honour  of  their  patron  the  Baptist,  whom  they,  at 
any  rate,  believed  to  lie  here  ;  and  they  evidently  set  them¬ 
selves  to  rear  an  edifice  which  should  be  half  fortalice  and 
half  temple.  It  was  touching  to  observe  the  fine  arches 
falling  to  pieces,  and  to  see  decay  on  every  side,  even  the 
mosque  which  has  risen  like  a  fungus  within  not  escaping 
the  ravages  of  time  :  a  picture,  one  might  have  said,  of 
death  glorying  in  its  triumph  over  once  vigorous  life ! 
The  constant  recurrence  of  such  splendid  ruins  in  every 
part  of  the  country  shows  that  during  the  two  hundred 
years  of  the  Crusades — a  time  as  long  as  from  the  Revolu¬ 
tion  of  1G88  to  the  present  day — Palestine  must  have 
been  almost  as  thickly  covered  with  churches  as  England 
is  now,  and  in  very  many  cases  the  structures  were  as  line 
in  architecture,  and  often  as  large,  as  our  noblest  eccle¬ 
siastical  edifices — the  cathedrals  alone  excepted.  The 


234 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


Holy  Land,  in  fact,  like  Egypt,  Northern  Africa,  and 
Asia  Minor,  is  a  province  which  has  been  lost  to  Christ, 
after  having  once  been  won  for  Him  by  the  zeal  of  His 
followers  :  lost,  and  when  to  be  won  back  ?  The  bounds 
of  Christendom  have  often  been  changed  since  the  apostles 
died,  and  not  always  in  the  right  direction ;  for  though 
the  Romans  took  care,  in  their  grand  heathen  pride,  that 
their  god  Terminus  should  never  draw  back  from  a  spot 
once  pressed  b}^  his  foot,  the  Church  has  not  honoured  its 
Lord  in  Heaven  by  as  resolutely  maintaining  His  con¬ 
quests. 

The  mud  huts  which  compose  the  village  cling  to  the 
slope  facing  the  church  ;  traces  of  the  glory  of  old  times 
appearing  among  them,  here  and  there,  in  pillar-shafts, 
marble  pedestals,  and  fragments  of  carved  marble  mould¬ 
ings.  The  terrace  on  which  our  tents  were  pitched  had 
evidently  been  artificially  levelled — when,  by  whom,  or 
for  what  purpose,  who  can  tell  P  There  could  hardly, 
however,  be  a  finer  threshing-floor ;  and  for  this  purpose 
it  is  accordingly  used.  Here  the  great  temple  of  Baal, 
so  famous  in  Jezebel’s  time,  mav  once  have  stood,  huge 
in  size — for  it  was  served  by  450  priests — and  so  fortified 
in  its  Holy  of  holies,  where  stood  the  glittering  image  of 
the  god,  that  that  part  was  spoken  of  as  his  castle.1  On 
the  west  edge  of  the  hill,  in  some  ploughed  land,  stand 
fifteen  weathered  limestone  pillars,  without  capitals  or 
architrave,  perhaps  the  last  relics  of  the  temple  built  by 
Herod  in  honour  of  Augustus.  They  form,  as  a  whole, 
an  oblong,  gaunt  and  spectral  now  that  they  are  robbed 
of  all  their  ornament,  but  once  the  glory  of  the  city. 
“  In  the  middle  of  the  town,”  says  Josephus,  “Herod 
left  an  open  space  of  a  stadium2  and  a  half  in  [circuit], 

1  1  Kings  xvi.  32 ;  xviii.  19,  22 ;  2  Kings  x.  17  ft. ;  x.  25  (“  the  city 55 
=  the  castle) ;  Jer.  xxiii.  13.  2  A  stadium  =  a  furlong. 


XXX  YI.] 


THE  CITY  OF  SAMARIA. 


235 


and  here  he  built  a  temple  to  the  honour  of  Augustus, 
which  was  famous  for  its  size  and  beauty.55  To  the  south, 
the  edge  of  the  plateau  and  the  slopes  were  overshadowed 
by  thick  groves  of  figs  and  olives,  which  reached  far 
away  down  the  valley  of  Nakurah  and  up  the  hills  on  its 
farther  side.  Among  these,  ploughs  wrere  in  many  .places 
busy,  while  in  others  the  earth  was  green  with  rising  crops  ; 
the  soil  everywhere  inviting  industry.  Pillars,  or  broken 
fragments  of  pillars,  and  cut  stones  lay  around,  and  there 
were  fragments  of  pottery  over  the  whole  surface  of  the 
hill.  Beyond  the  temple  site,  the  ground  rose,  without 
trees,  in  a  wide  terrace  which  was  everywhere  tilled ;  but 
this,  the  eastern,  being  the  weakest  side,  the  whole  slope 
had  been  made  into  three  steep  embankments,  one  below 
the  other  ;  hard  to  climb  at  any  time,  terrible  to  surmount 
in  the  face  of  an  enemy  defending  them  from  behind 
walls. 

The  neighbouring  hills,  like  the  one  I  have  been  de¬ 
scribing,  were  soft  and  rounded,  with  glimpses  of  peaceful 
valleys  between.  I  was  standing  at  an  elevation  of  1,450 
feet  above  the  sea,  but  a  few  miles  off,  to  the  east,  was  a 
summit  790  feet  higher,  wdiile  two  miles  off,  to  the  north, 
was  one  925  feet  above  me.  These,  however,  were  the 
giants  of  the  circle ;  the  others  are  either  slightly  lower 
than  the  hill  of  Samaria,  or  very  little  higher ;  but  all 
alike,  with  the  valleys  at  their  feet,  are  covered  with  the 
softest  green.  On  the  south  lay  Nakurah,  embosomed 
among  figs  and  olives,  and  more  than  ten  other  villages 
crowned  various  heights  -around,  while  on  the  west  the 
horizon  was  girt  by  a  long  gleaming  strip  of  “  the  Great 
Sea.55  Isaiah  had  looked  on  the  same  landscape  when 
Samaria  was  in  its  glory,  and  had  carried  away  the  recol¬ 
lection  of  its  hill  as  “  the  glorious  crown  of  Ephraim,  the 
flower  of  its  winning  beauty,  standing  up  over  its  rich 


236 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


valley;”1  but  its  glory  has  long  disappeared.  Where 
kings  once  lived  in  palaces  faced  with  ivory,  and  nobles 
in  mansions  of  squared  stones ; 2  where  the  royal  tombs 
raised  their  proud  heads  over  the  successors  of  Omri ; 3 
where  grew  a  grove  of  Astarte,  and  a  great  temple  to 
her  rose  at  the  will  of  Jezebel ; 4  where  the  huge  fane  of 
Baal  was  the  cathedral  of  idolatry  for  the  apostate  tribes  ; 
where  Elisha  lived  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  but  inside  the 
fortifications ; 5  where  Hosea  preached  year  after  year 
through  his  long  and  faithful  career — there  was  now  only 
a  ploughed  field.  As  I  returned  from  my  walk  round  the 
broad  top  of  the  hill,  the  sheikh  and  ten  or  twelve  of  the 
chief  men  of  the  village  came  up,  and,  sitting  down  on 
the  ground  beside  an  old  dry  stone  wall,  on  the  edge  of 
the  great  threshing-floor,  asked  me  to  tell  them  the  his¬ 
tory  of  the  place.  In  turbans,  and  in  flowing  “  abbas  ” 
with  green,  red,  or  blue  stripes — for  the  inhabitants  of  the 
ancient  site  affect  bright  colours — they  listened  with  the 
greatest  interest  while  I  repeated  the  story  of  their  hill 
from  the  days  of  Omri  to  the  fall  of  the  city. 

The  founder  of  Samaria  must  have  been  a  man  of 
genius,  to  give  up  the  fair  but  defenceless  Thirza  and 
choose  such  a  position  as  this  for  his  capital,  so  much  more 
fertile  and  so  much  stronger ;  a  fair-dealing  man  withal, 
for  he  bought  the  site  honestly  ; 6  a  man  given  to  the 
Hebrew  custom  of  playing  on  words,  as  seen  by  his 
cliangiug  the  name  of  the  city  from  that  of  its  former 
owner,  Sliemer,  to  “  Shomeron,”  “  the  Wartburg,”  or 
“  Watch  Eort,”  commanding  as  it  did  the  roads  from 

1  Isa.  xxviii.  1.  Miililau’s  translation. 

2  Isa  ix.  10  ;  Amos  iii.  15 ;  Ps.  xlv.  8  ;  1  Kings  xxii.  39  ;  2  Kings  xv.  25 
(“  castle  of  tlie  king’s  palace  ”). 

3  1  Kings  xvi.  28 ;  xxii.  37  ;  2  Kings  x.  35  ;  xiii.  9,  13  ;  xiv.  16. 

4  2  Kings  xiii.  6  (<:  grove  ”). 

6  2  Kings  v.  9  ;  vi.  32 ;  xiii.  14.  c  1  Kings  xvi.  24. 


XXXVI.] 


THE  CITY  OF  SAMARIA. 


237 


the  north.  But  it  had  to  stand  many  a  siege.  Alread}^, 
in  Omri’s  day,  the  jealous  Syrian  king,  Benhadad  I.,  com¬ 
pelled  the  surrender  of  some  of  its  bazaars  to  his  Damascus 
traders.1  Under  Alrab,  it  was  beleaguered  by  Benhadad 
II.,  and  only  delivered  by  a  brave  sally,  when,  fortunately 
for  Israel,  Benhadad  and  his  high  officers  were  “  drinking 
themselves  drunk  in  their  tents  ”2 — an  early  lesson  in 
favour  of  total  abstinence.  But  it  was  under  Joram  that  it 
had  its  sorest  trial,  at  the  hands  of  Benhadad  III.,  so  dire 
a  famine  resulting  that  men  were  glad  to  buy  the  head  of 
an  ass — the  part  of  an  animal  which  no  Oriental  would 
touch  in  ordinary  times — for  eighty  pieces  of  silver,  or  more 
than  £8  ;  while  the  fourth  part  of  a  u  cab,”  about  half  a 
pint,  of  dove’s  dung — used  perhaps,  as  Josephus  suggests, 
in  lieu  of  salt  for  seasoning,  unless,  as  seems  more  probable, 
the  name  was  applied  to  some  inferior  kind  of  vegetable 
food,  a  bean  perhaps,  since  the  Arabs  now  call  one  seed 
they  eat  “  sparrow’s  dung  ” 3 — sold  for  over  ten  shillings  ;  4 
and  mothers,  in  despair,  killed  their  own  children  and 
boiled  them  for  food.  And  who  can  tell  what  this  hill 
must  have  seen  of  agony  in  the  three  years’  siege,  before 
the  Assyrians  under  Sargon  forced  their  way  in,  to  carry 
off  into  captivity  the  survivors  of  the  assault  ? 5 

Founded  as  a  military  despotism,  the  northern  king¬ 
dom,  like  all  communities,  had  remained  true  to  the  spirit 
of  its  origin.  Devolution  had  been  a  passion  from  the 
beginning,  and  with  it  every  element  of  social  degeneracy 
and  decay  had  kept  pace.  The  sway  of  a  rough  soldiery 
alternated  with  the  luxury  of  a  heathen  court,  until  vio¬ 
lence,  lawlessness,  immorality,  and  self-indulgence  brought 
all  to  ruin.  A  few  were  possessed  of  great  wealth,  often 


1  1  Kings  xx.  34. 

2  1  Kings  xx.  16. 


3  Gesenins,  Lex.y  Ste  Auf. 

4  2  Kings  vi.  25,  29. 


6  2  Kings  xvii.  5. 


238 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


secured  by  foul  means,  and  the  mass  of  the  people  were  at 
once  vicious  and  in  misery,  so  that  the  State  was  left  help¬ 
less,  in  spite  of  a  superficial  air  of  prosperity  maintained 
by  the  upper  class  to  the  last.  Samaria  grew  sick  unto 
death  long  before  it  fell,  and  the  prophets  only  proclaimed 
what  must  have  been  patent  to  all  thinking  men  when 
they  foretold  its  overthrow  at  the  hand  of  Assyria,  then 
striding  on  to  universal  empire  in  Western  Asia.1  But 
their  words  have  had  a  wonderfully  literal  fulfilment, 
especially  those  of  Micah,  when  he  says,  in  his  prophetic 
vision,  “  I  will  make  Samaria  a  mire-heap  of  the  field :  I 
will  turn  it  into  vineyard  plantations  :  I  will  roll  down  its 
stones  into  the  valley  beneath,  and  make  bare  its  founda¬ 
tions.  All  its  carved  images  of  stone  will  be  shattered  to 
pieces,  all  the  wealth  in  its  temples,  got  by  its  temple- 
harlots,  will  be  burned  with  fire,  and  the  site  of  its  idol 
statues  will  I  make  desolate.”  2  It  seems,  indeed,  as  though 
a  special  curse  rested  on  the  city  once  desecrated  by  idola¬ 
try.  Its  splendid  position  ever  invited  rebuilding  afresh, 
and  all  things  seemed  to  promise  a  vigorous  restoration 
of  its  prosperity,  but  each  time  the  annihilating  blow 
came,  and  that  before  long.  The  Maccabsean,  John  Hyr- 
canus,  destroyed  the  city  utterly,  as  he  had  destroyed  the 
temple  on  Gerizim.  But  even  after  that  it  was  speedily 
rebuilt,  and  in  Herod’s  day  was  specially  favoured. 
Besides  rearing  the  temple  of  which  we  have  spoken,  he 
restored  its  fortifications,  and  it  owes  to  him  its  present 
name — Sebastieh — for  he  called  it  Sebaste,  “the  August,” 
in  servile  flattery  of  his  imperial  patron  at  Borne.  In  the 
valley  around  there  are  still  the  remains  of  his  grand 
colonnade  of  stately  pillars,  which  were  once  shaded, 
doubtless,  by  figs  and  olives,  and  perhaps  linked  by 

1  Amos  iii.  12  ;  Hos.  xiv.  1 ;  Isa.  viii.  4 ;  Micali  i.  6. 

2  Micali  i.  6,  7.  Translation  in  Geikie’s  Hours  with  the  BibL\  iv.  353. 


XXX  YI.  ] 


THE  CITY  OF  SAMARIA. 


239 


wreaths,  and  which  lined  both  sides  of  a  raised  terrace 
apparently  encircling  the  hill,  thus  forming  a  stately  walk 
and  drive  from  fifty  to  a  hundred  feet  broad.  Of  all  this 
glory,  only  lines  of  weathered  columns  at  intervals  remain, 
many  standing,  but  some  fallen.  For  centuries  Samaria 
has  been  a  poor  peasant- village.  Under  the  smiling  green 
around  lies  buried  its  great  past,  so  romantic,  so  sad ! 

Descending  the  hill  at  the  south  side,  I  came  upon  the 
remains  of  two  round  towers,  evidently  marking  the  de¬ 
fences  of  a  gateway  which  stood  high  above  the  valley. 
A  fine  road  led  to  them,  and  on  both  sides  of  this  road  were 
to  he  seen  remains  of  the  great  colonnade.  This  southern 
slope  is  even  steeper  than  those  on  the  north  and  west. 
Walking  on,  I  found  patches  of  wilderness  amidst  the 
strips  of  sown  land,  as  is  everywhere  the  case  in  Palestine ; 
the  population  not  being  numerous  enough  to  use  more 
than  a  small  proportion  of  the  soil.  Stretches  of  Christ- 
thorn  and  other  worthless  growths  flourished  up  to  the 
very  edge  of  spots  from  the  black  soil  of  which  were 
springing  vigorous  grain  crops.  In  such  a  region  if 
the  wretched  Turkish  Grovernment,  instead  of  caring  for 
nothing  but  itself,  were  thoughtful  and  public-spirited,  it 
might  soon  attract  people  enough  to  turn  the  wilderness 
into  a  fruitful  field.  But  where  there  is  no  public  con¬ 
science  in  the  rulers,  what  can  be  done  for  a  country? 
The  peasants,  though  they  bear  an  indifferent  name,  are 
strong,  well -grown,  industrious  people,  full  of  energy  and 
life — the  raw  material  of  a  prosperous  nation,  if  they  only 
had  a  chance  of  showing  of  what  they  are  capable.  Under 
such  a  rule  as  that  'of  England  in  India,  they  would  soon 
restore  Palestine  to  all  its  former  glory.  Meanwhile, 
Samaria,  with  all  its  natural  fertility,  brings  before  one 
vividly,  'in  its  half-tilled  and  half-waste  condition,  the 
threatenings  of  the  prophet :  “  All  the  land  shall  become 


240  THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE.  [Chap.  XXXVI 

briers  and  thorns,  and  on  all  the  bills,  that  should  be  dug 
with  the  mattock,  thou  shalt  not  go,  for  fear  of  the  briers 
and  thorns.”1 

Leprosy,  it  appears,  is  still  common  in  this  neighbour¬ 
hood,  as  it  was  in  the  days  of  Elisha,  when  there  were 
“many  lepers  in  Israel;”2  and  it  is  still  common,  also,  in 
Damascus,  whence  Naaman  came  to  this  place  to  be  healed 
by  the  prophet.  The  practice  of  shutting  lepers  outside  a 
city,  though  now  modified  at  Jerusalem  so  far  as  to  allow 
them  to  live  just  inside  one  of  the  gates,  seems  to  have 
been  in  force  in  ancient  times,  if  we  may  judge  from  the 
story  of  the  great  siege  by  Benliadad  III. 

1  Isa.  vii.  24,  25.  2  Luke  iv.  27. 


j 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

DOTHAN,  GILBOA,  SHTJNEM. 

The  first  village  north  of  Samaria  was  Burka,  the  road 
to  which  lay  across  the  valley  and  np  the  slope  between 
two  of  the  hills  beyond.  The  morning  was  bright  and 
warm,  and  amid  snch  fertile  scenery  it  was  easy  to 
understand  the  love  which  Ephraim  had  for  his  native 
soil.  As  we  rode  slowly  up  the  ascent  great  flocks  of 
vultures  sailed  overhead,  on  the  look-out  for  carrion — a 
dead  animal,  or  offal.  The  number  of  birds  of  prey  in 
the  East  and  in  Southern  Europe  is  quite  surprising. 
I  have  seen  five  or  six  sparrowr-hawks  at  a  time  hover¬ 
ing  over  the  Acropolis  at  Athens,  ready  to  pounce 
upon  some  of  the  little  birds ;  and  here  at  Samaria  the 
vultures  were  past  my  counting.  It  was  the  same  in 
Bible  times,  for  we  find  no  fewer  than  fifteen  Hebrew 
names  of  predaceous  birds  :  some  applied  to  the  whole 
class  ;  others  the  names  of  particular  species.  The  power 
of  sight  in  all  of  them  is  amazing.  If  an  animal  die  or 
be  slaughtered  after  sunrise,  a  vulture  is  sure  to  make  its 
appearance  in  a  few  minutes,  though  there  was  no  sign  of 
one  in  the  heavens  before,  and  in  rapid  succession  another 
and  another  will  arrive,  till  the  air  is  darkened  with  the 
multitude  of  griffon  and  other  vultures,  eagles,  kites,  buz¬ 
zards,  and  ravens.  It  is  still  true  that  “  wheresoever  the 
carcase  is,  there  will  the  eagles  be  gathered  together.”1 

9 


1  Matt.  xxiy.  28 ;  Luke  xvii.  37. 


212 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


The  sight  of  one  vulture  in  downward  flight  seems  to 
be  the  signal  to  others,  who  come  on  in  endless  succession, 
some  of  them  from  vast  distances,  so  that  we  can  easily 
believe  the  statement  that  during  a  war  all  the  vultures 
of  widely  remote  provinces  are  gathered,  to  wait  for  their 
horrible  banquets.  When  Micah  says  to  the  people  of 
Judah,  “Make  thee  bald,  and  poll  thee  for  thy  delicate 
children  ;  enlarge  thy  baldness  as  the  eagle/’1  he  refers 
to  the  griffon-vulture,  the  head  and  neck  of  which  are 
bare  of  all  but  down.  It  is  to  this  bird  that  the  rapacious 
invader  of  Babylon  is  compared  when  he  is  spoken  of 
as  “a  ravenous  bird  from  the  east:”2  a  simile  especially 
apt  when  we  remember  that  the  griffon-vulture  was  the 
emblem  of  Persia,  emblazoned  on  its  standard.  The  age 
to  which  the  whole  class  of  carrion-feeders  lives  is  very 
great ;  instances  having  been  known  of  an  eagle  sur¬ 
viving  in  captivity  for  over  100  years.  It  was  natural, 
therefore,  that  the  Psalmist  should  say,  “  Thy  youth  is 
renewed  like  the  eagle’s.”3  The  strength  of  wing  and 
swiftness  of  flight  of  the  eagle  often  supply  meta¬ 
phors  to  the  sacred  writers,4  but  no  passage  is  more 
striking  than  that  in  Deuteronomy  which  alludes  to  the 
tenderness  with  which  they  care  for  their  young  :  “  As  an 
eagle  stirreth  up  her  nest,  fluttereth  over  her  young, 
spreadeth  abroad  her  wings,  taketh  them,  heareth  them 
on  her  wings;  so  the  Lord  alone  did  lead  him.”5  Sir 
Humphry  Davy,  speaking  of  a  pair  of  golden  eagles 
which  he  watched  while  they  were  thus  employed,  says, 
“  I  once  saw  a  very  interesting  sight  above  the  crags  of 
Ben  Nevis.  Two  parent  eagles  were  teaching  their  off¬ 
spring,  two  young  birds,  the  manoeuvres  of  flight.  They 

1  Mic.  i.  16.  2  Isa.  xlvi.  11.  3  Ps.  ciii.  5. 

4  Ezek.  xvii.  3;  Isa.  xl.  31;  Job  ix.  26;  Deut.  xxviii.  49;  Lam.  iv.  19; 

2  Sam.  i.  23.  6  Deut.  xxxii.  11,  12. 


XXXVII.]  DOTHAN,  GILBOA,  SHUNEM.  243 

began  by  rising  from  the  top  of  the  mountain,  in  the  eye 
of  the  sun.  It  was  about  midday,  and  bright  for  the 
climate.  They  at  first  made  small  circles,  and  the  young 
birds  imitated  them.  They  paused  on  their  wings,  wait¬ 
ing  till  they  had  made  their  flight,  and  then  took  a  second 
and  larger  gyration,  always  rising  towards  the  sun,  and 
enlarging  their  circle  of  flight,  so  as  to  make  a  gradually 
ascending  spiral.  The  young  ones  still  slowly  followed, 
apparently  flying  better  as  they  mounted,  and  they  con¬ 
tinued  this  sublime  exercise,  always  rising,  till  they 
became  mere  points  in  the  air,  and  the  young  ones 
were  lost,  and  afterwards  their  parents,  to  our  aching 
sight/’ 

For  a  time,  the  hills  which  we  passed  were  covered 
with  olives,  the  stems  of  some  showing  them  to  be  very 
old — perhaps  the  growth  of  centuries.  In  Judsea  to  some 
extent,  but  nearly  everywhere  here,  in  the  territory  of 
Ephraim,  the  words  of  Scripture  were  still  vindicated  : 
“Thou  shalt  have  olive-trees  throughout  all  thy  coasts.”1 
Up  hill  and  down,  the  road  wound  on  to  Jeba,  a  village 
well  built  of  stone  on  a  hill-side,  the  houses  rising  row 
above  row,  so  that  the  flat  roofs  of  the  line  below  seemed 
to  form  a  street  before  those  above.  It  stands  in  the 
midst  of  countless  olives,  with  hills  rising  on  all  sides, 
except  to  the  north-east,  where  there  was  a  broad  valley 
covered  with  rising  grain.  Many  villages  were  to  be  seen 
on  high  points,  for  they  are  very  rarely  found  in  the 
insecure  plains.  While  we  were  crossing  the  higher  parts 
of  the  route  the  Mediterranean  was  in  sight,  but  a  wild 
confusion  of  hills  concealed  the  maritime  lowlands ;  in 
the  parts  nearer  to  us,  however,  there  were  openings  into 
various  fruitful  valleys.  The  tops  of  the  hills  on  our 
road  were  lonely  and  wholly  untilled,  but  there  was  a 

1  Deufc.  xxviii.  40. 

9  2 


214 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


great  deal  of  succulent  green  about,  showing  that  the 
soil  was  naturally  fertile. 

Sanur,  the  next  village  on  the  journey,  is  a  strong 
place  on  a  steep  and  rocky  hill,  which  guards  the  entrance 
to  a  considerable  plain,  known  as  “  the  Meadow  of  Drown¬ 
ing,”  the  want  of  natural  drainage  turning  it  into  a 
swamp  in  May  or  June.  In  the  green  fields  men,  women, 
and  children  were  weeding  the  grain,  such  of  the  weeds 
as  were  of  use  being  carried  home  for  fodder,  while  the  rest 
were  gathered  together  into  bundles  and  burnt.1  The  hill 
of  Sanur  is  very  steep  on  the  east,  but  on  the  west  sinks 
gradually  towards  the  hills  in  that  direction.  A  little 

O  */ 

fortress  crowns  the  top,  and  stone  walls  run  along  the 
slope  outside  the  houses  ;  only  one  door  offering  entrance. 
At  the  top  of  the  slow  ascent  through  rich  vineyards, 
orchards  of  olives  and  figs,  and  fields  of  grain,  a  fountain 
was  flowing  from  below  an  arch,  the  water  in  part  run¬ 
ning  to  waste  down  the  hill.  Numbers  of  women  were  busy 
cleaning  linen  with  wooden  mallets  ;  others  were  getting 
water,  some  of  them  passing  us  with  their  jars  on  their 
shoulders  or  heads.  A  string  of  camels,  with  great  bales 
sticking  out  on  each  side,  stalked  down  the  hill  beyond, 
taking  up  all  the  track,  which  the  water  has  washed  into 
great  roughness,  though  here  and  there  the  Roman  pave¬ 
ment  was  still  in  position — for  this  was  an  old  Roman  road. 

Approaching  the  village  of  Kabatiyeh,  we  passed  over 
part  of  the  plain  of  Dothan,  the  scene  of  the  sale  of  Joseph 
to  the  Midianites.  At  one  place  was  a  well  called  “the 
Well  of  the  Pit,”  perhaps  a  memorial  of  the  poor  lad’s 
fate,  and  not  very  far  from  it  a  second,  with  a  water- 
trough,  the  two  accounting  for  the  name  Dothan,  which 
means  “  the  Two  Wells.”  Above  them,  to  the  north,  rose 
a  green  hill,  overlooking  the  wide  plain  in  which  the  sons 

x  Matt.  xiii.  30. 


XXX  YII.] 


DOTHAN",  GILBOA,  SHUHEM. 


245 


of  Jacob  pastured  tlieir  flocks/  while  to  the  west  stretched 
out  the  dark-coloured  plain  of  Arrabeh,  and  beyond  it 
the  road  to  Egypt,  aloug  which  the  Midianite  caravan  led 
their  newly-bought  young  Syrian  slave.  A  gazelle  broke 
away  on  our  left  as  we  passed,  and  was  chased  by  our 
dragoman,  but  he  might  as  well  have  followed  the  wind. 
The  tiny  creature  was  up  a  neighbouring  slope  and  out  of 
sight,  as  it  were  in  a  moment.  Hermon  had  been  visible 
in  all  its  radiant  whiteness  from  the  high  points  of  the 
day’s  travel.  Daisies,  broom,  and  hawthorn  dotted  the 
untilled  parts  of  the  valleys.  Another  string  of  camels, 
laden  with  charcoal,  going  to  Nablus,  crossed  Dothan 
while  we  were  passing  over  its  green  and  black  breadth, 
picturesquely  shut  in  by  low  verdant  hills.  To  the  east,  as 
we  approached  the  village  of  Kabatiyeh,  a  thick  wood  of 
olives,  many  of  them  very  old  trees,  covered  the  hollow 
plains  and  the  slopes  on  each  side,  while  before  us  a 
narrow  opening  in  the  hills  led  to  the  great  plain  of 
Esdraelon,  soon  to  come  partially  in  sight,  with  the  hills 
of  Galilee  beyond  it.  The  defile  to  the  plain  was,  how¬ 
ever,  longer  than  one  could  have  wished,  over  such  a  road. 
The  hills,  now  close  to  us  on  both  sides,  were  rough,  though 
not  high,  and  the  track  was  often  very  broken.  In  two  or 
tli  ree  miles  of  constant  descent  we  went  down  nearly,  or 
quite,  1,000  feet.  It  was,  apparently,  by  this  pass  that 
Azariah  of  Judah  fled  before  the  men  sent  by  Jehu  to 
kill  him,  for  though  we  do  not  know  “  the  going  up  to 
Gur,”  it  is  said  to  have  been  “by  Ibleam,”2  which  was 
in  all  likelihood  identical  with  the  Wady  Belameh,  the 
very  gorge  through  which  we  were  slowly  descending. 
Two  strong  brooks  flowed  down  to  Esdraelon  at  different 
points  on  the  way,  and  the  slopes,  rough  and  broken,  were 
yellow  with  the  flowers  of  the  broom. 

1  Gen.  xxxvii.  17.  2  2  Kings  ix.  27. 


246 


[Chap. 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

Jenin,  the  ancient  Engannim — <f  the  Fountain  of  the 
Gardens  "—lying  at  the  south  end  of  the  great  plain,  is 
a  place  of  some  importance  for  Palestine,  with  a  small 
bazaar,  or  place  for  selling  and  buying.  A  tall  minaret, 
some  palm-trees,  rich  orangeries,  clamps  of  tamarisks, 
cactns-liedges,  two  or  three  white  domes  of  a  mosque,  and 
a  delightful  richness  of  green,  are  its  most  striking  charac¬ 
teristics,  not  to  speak  of  its  exceptional  richness  in  water. 
They  say  it  has  3,000  inhabitants,  but  I  doubt  it.  A  fine 
stream  runs  through  the  town,  and  waters  the  gardens 
and  fields  outside,  finally  breaking  into  rivulets  which  join 
one  or  other  of  the  feeble  sources  ultimately  united  to 
form  the  Kislion.  The  water  from  the  fountain  which 
enriches  the  town  and  neighbourhood  rises  out  of  the 
ground  near  the  mosque,  and  is  led  off  in  an  open  stone 
conduit,  built  for  the  first  few  yards  on  low  stone  arches. 
East  of  the  town  rises  the  stony  range  of  Gilboa,  encircling 
a  considerable  plain  ;  to  the  north  stretches  out,  as  far  as 
the  eye  can  reach,  the  brown  rolling  plain  of  Esdraelon, 
brightened  with  spots  of  green ;  and  three  miles  beyond 
it  are  the  hills  from  which  the  wdiite  houses  of  Nazareth 
look  down.  Nearer  at  hand  is  the  cone  of  the  extinct 
volcano  of  Jebel  Duliy,  while  to  the  west  the  view  is 
closed  by  the  broad  shoulder  of  Carmel. 

From  Jenin  to  the  hills  below  Nazareth  is  fourteen 
miles  due  north  ;  from  Zerin,  the  ancient  Jezreel,  on  the 
western  slope  of  Gilboa,  to  Ledjun,  the  ancient  Legio, 
which  lies  nearly  west  of  Zerin,  is  about  nine  miles.  These 
distances  give  the  size  of  the  plain  in  two  directions,  while 
from  Zerin  to  the  hills  which  cross  the  plain,  near  the  spot 
on  the  Carmel  range  where  Elijah  met  the  priests  of 
Baal,  is  fourteen  miles,  in  a  north-western  direction,  and 
from  Jenin  they  are  seventeen  miles  oft,  to  the  north¬ 
west.  Such  an  open  space  is  not  to  be  found  elsewhere 


XXXVII.] 


DOTHAN,  GILBOA,  SHUNEM. 


247 


in  Palestine,  and  lienee  it  lias  always  been  the  great 
battle-ground  of  tlie  country,  from  the  days  of  Thothmes 
III.  and  Pameses  II.  to  those  of  Napoleon  I.  The  soil 
is  dark-coloured  lava,  worn  into  dust  in  the  lapse  of  many 
ages,  and  is  extremely  fertile,  though  for  want  of  popu¬ 
lation  much  less  is  made  of  it  than  might  be.  Seamed 
in  every  direction  with  small  water-courses,  the  plain 
drains  the  hills  on  all  sides,  and  gradually  unites  their 
winter  floods  or  spring  rain  into  the  Kish  on,  one  of  the 
shortest  rivers  in  the  world,  if  indeed  it  is  to  be  called 
a  river,  for  though  sometimes  rolling*  in  a  wild  and 
dangerous  tumult  of  waves,  it  is  often  dry,  except  per¬ 
haps  at  the  marshy  bar  towards  its  mouth. 

“  The  Mountains  of  Gfilboa  ”  are  naturally  the  first 
point  to  which  one  turns  his  thoughts  at  Jenin,  lying,  as 
they  do,  so  near  at  hand.  Bedouins  had  pitched  their  black 
tents  in  the  quiet  recess  among  the  mountains  east  of  the 
town,  as  they  have  done  over  the  plain,  more  or  less, 
since  the  earliest  history.  To  such  wanderers,  accustomed 
only  to  the  short-lived  ‘‘pastures  of  the  wilderness,”  the 
attractions  of  a  mighty  oasis  like  Esdraelon  are  hardly  less 
than  those  of  some  Island  of  the  Blessed  to  voyagers  on 
the  ocean  waste.  Again  and  again  since  the  days  of 
Gideon,  and  doubtless  long  before  them,  it  has  been 
covered  with  their  camels  “  like  the  sand  which  is  by  the 
sea-sliore  innumerable,”  when  war,  famine,  or  the  desire 
of  rich  quarters  has  brought  them  across  the  Jordan. 
So  late,  indeed,  as  1870,  they  were  so  numerous  that 
only  about  one-sixth  of  the  plain  was  tilled  for  fear  of 
them ;  but  Turkish  cavalry,  armed  with  repeating  rifles, 
taught  the  lawless  invaders  such  a  lesson  that  they  fled 
to  their  deserts,  whence,  however,  they  return  as  often 
as  the  weakness  of  the  Government  gives  an  opportunity. 
Thus  in  1877,  when  Turkey  was  in  a  death-struggle  with 


248 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


Russia,  they  reappeared  in  great  numbers,  and  levied  black¬ 
mail  on  the  defenceless  peasants,  but  since  then  they 
have  been  afraid  to  venture  on  such  predatory  incursions. 
The  area  of  cultivation  is  consequently  extending  now 
that  safety  seems  more  assured,  but  much  land  is  still 
covered  with  thistles  and  rank  wild  growths.  Growing 
corn,  millet,  sesame,  cotton,  tobacco,  and  much  besides, 
with  magnificent  returns,  the  soil  only  wants  population 
to  turn  it  to  profit.  There  are  splendid  perennial  springs 
on  the  west ;  and  even  in  the  hot  months  water  enough 
is  running  to  waste  below  the  hills  to  irrigate  almost  any 
extent  of  surface.  With  such  a  soil,  practically  inex¬ 
haustible,  what  returns  might  be  obtained  ! 

It  is  not  pleasant  to  pass  close  to  the  wild  sons  of  the 
desert,  whose  estimate  of  the  value  of  human  life  is  cynic¬ 
ally  low ;  but  the  swarthy  Arabs  did  us  no  harm — from 
fear,  no  doubt,  rather  than  from  conscience.  As  one  looked 
north,  the  whole  of  the  magnificent  plain  seemed  green, 
but  peasants  were  still  busy  ploughing  and  sowing. 
Fertility,  either  wild  or  cultivated,  reigned  over  all  the 
undulations  around ;  but  the  hills  to  the  right  and  left, 
and  the  Galilsean  mountains  beyond,  to  the  north,  were 
in  their  upper  tracts  stony  and  barren.  The  little  village 
of  Jelbon — a  very  wretched  place,  more  than  500  feet 
above  Jenin,  from  which  it  lies  about  seven  miles  east 
— marks  the  beginning  of  the  isolated  mass  of  Gilboa, 
which  rises  in  a  great  number  of  summits  to  the  north 
and  west:  the  highest  of  them  being  over  1,600  feet 
above  the  sea,  or  nearly  500  feet  higher  than  Jelbon. 
The  poverty  of  the  defenceless  peasants  was  a  commen¬ 
tary  on  the  presence  of  the  villainous  Arabs  in  their 
neighbourhood.  To  the  north  of  their  hamlet,  strij^s  of 
thorns  and  thistles  alternated  with  patches  of  cultivation  ; 
oak-scrub  covering  the  steep  slopes,  while  countless  wild 


XXXVII.]  DOTHAN,  GILBOA,  SHUNEM.  249 

flowers  were  growing  in  every  spot  open  to  tlie  sun.  Here 
and  there  water  still  lay  in  small  clefts  of  the  rocks,  hut 
the  whole  aspect  of  the  hills  was  desolate  and  forbidding ; 
the  bare  rock,  split  into  thick  beds  of  loose  stones,  stand¬ 
ing  out  everywhere  through  the  brown  and  russet  of  the 
stunted-  and  twisted  brush.  One  could  not  help  thinking 
of  the  words  in  the  lamentation  of  David  over  Saul  and 
J onatlian — “  Ye  mountains  of  Gilboa,  let  there  he  no  dew, 
neither  let  there  he  rain,  upon  you,  nor  fields  from  which 
offerings  may  be  taken ;  for  there  the  shield  of  the  mighty 
is  vilely  cast  away,  the  shield  of  Saul,  as  though  he 
had  not  been  anointed  with  oil.”  1  The  panorama  from 
the  heights  was  very  fine.  To  the  east  lay  a  green  plain 
dotted  with  the  black  tents  of  the  Bedouins.  The  sunken 
channel  of  the  Jordan,  here  more  than  six  miles  broad, 
stretched  away  to  the  river,  which  was  flowing  already  at  a 
depth  of  over  700  feet  below  the  sea;  but  Bethshan,  the 
modern  Beisan,  which  lies  in  this  locality,  was  not  visible. 
Across  the  winding  bed  of  the  stream,  which  could  be  seen 
for  a  long  distance,  rose  the  noble  mountains  of  Gilead,  and 
when  one  turned  his  back  on  them,  the  great  sweep  of 
Esdraelon  wearied  the  eye  with  its  details,  while  to  the 
north  the  mountains  of  Lebanon,  with  snowy  Hermon 
ever  towering  above  all,  mingled  the  earth  with  the 
heavens. 

The  way  now  again  led  west,  over  a  very  rough  road, 
up,  down,  and  across  glens,  plains,  and  slopes,  to  the 
village  of  Deir  Guzaleh.  From  a  distance  Gilboa  appears 
one  great  mass,  hut  it  is  a  network  of  hills.  Arraneh, 
west  of  Deir  Guzaleh,  on  the  spur  north  of  Jenin,  boasts 
of  a  good  spring,  and  of  some  olives  and  other  trees 
within  cactus-hedges,  and  lies  on  the  road  from  Jenin  to 
Zerin,  which  is  about  four  miles  to  the  north.  Facing 


1  2  Sam.  i.  21. 


250 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


tlie  great  plain,  this  side  of  Gilboa  was,  in  all  prob¬ 
ability,  the  scene  of  Saul’s  defeat  by  the  Philistines.  As 
we  know,  be  pitched  bis  tents,  before  the  fatal  battle,  by 
the  “fountain  which  is  in  Jezreel”1 — a  full  spring  flow¬ 
ing  out  in  front  of  the  modern  village.  A  number  of 
cisterns  still  found  at  different  points  as  you  go  north 
speak  of  a  much  denser  population  in  other  times ; 
some  of  them,  including  a  tank  thirty-seven  paces  broad, 
occurring  at  spots  now,  and  j)erhaps  for  ages,  quite 
uninhabited  and  forsaken.  The  easy  slopes  of  Gilboa 
along  this  side  must  have  offered  little  hindrance  to  the 
Philistine  chariots,  which  had  already  made  their  way  to 
Esdraelon  over  much  rougher  ground,  and  could  easily 
pursue  the  fugitive  Hebrews  until  they  were  utterly 
scattered. 

Jezreel  stood,  in  olden  times,  on  a  knoll  500  feet 
above  the  sea,  and  about  100  feet  above  the  plain. 
On  the  south  the  ascent  is  very  gradual,  but  on  the 
north  and  north-east  the  slopes  are  steep  and  rugged. 
Crossing  the  knoll,  you  come  unexpectedly,  in  the  valley 
on  the  northern  side,  upon  two  springs,  one  Ain  Jalud, 
the  other  Ain  Tubaun,  where  the  Crusaders  are  said  to 
have  been  miraculously  fed  for  three  days  on  the  fish  of 
the  great  springs  of  the  neighbourhood.  At  both  there 
is  a  pool — that  of  Ain  Jalud  about  100  yards  long, 
with  miry  edges.  Numbers  of  women  were  getting  water, 
and  flocks  of  sheep  and  goats  were  lying  around.  A 
girl,  on  my  asking  for  a  drink,  instantly  emptied  her 
jar,  and  filling  it  afresh,  held  it  up  for  me  till  I  had  had 
enough.  The  valley  leading  down  to  Beisan  may  be  said 
to  begin  at  Ain  Jalud.  It  is  about  a  mile  across  at  Zerin, 
and  then  rises  into  a  mass  of  hills  seamed  with  broad 
valleys,  but  divided  on  the  north  from  the  hills  of  Galilee 

1  1  Sam.  xxix.  1. 


XXXVII.] 


DOTHAN,  GILBOA,  SHUNEM. 


251 


beyond  by  a  narrow  but  deep  bay  of  the  great  plain.  Of 
this  triangle  of  hills  Jebel  Dulry,  “  the  Leader,”  is  the 
highest,  rising  in  a  lofty  cone  more  than  1,000  feet  above 
Jezreel.1  The  top  is  a  mass  of  basalt  fragments,  memorials 
of  primaeval  eruptions ;  it  commands  a  magnificent  view, 
stretching  from  Ebal  to  Safed,  and  from  the  sea  to  the 
great  hills  beyond  the  Hauran. 

Little  more  than  a  mile  south-west  lies  the  village 
of  Solam,  the  ancient  Shunem,  about  200  feet  above 
the  plain 2 — a  poor  hamlet  of  rough,  flat-roofed  stone 
huts,  with  some  fruit-trees  beside  it — the  centre  of  the 
Philistine  position,  before  the  battle  of  Gilboa.3  It  thus 
faced  the  army  of  Saul,  which  lay  a  little  more  than  two 
miles  off,  to  the  south,  with  its  back  to  Gilboa  and  its 
front  towards  the  enemy  on  the  north.  Ravines  leading  , 
south  facilitated  the  approach  of  the  foe,  and  the  narrow 
plain  in  front,  still  more  than  the  gentle  slopes  at  the 
west  of  Gilboa,  would  expose  the  Israelites  on  both  front 
and  flank  to  the  attack  of  the  dreaded  chariots.  This 
was  bad  enough,  but  worse  was  to  follow,  for  the  astute 
Philistine  general  contrived  to  march  at  least  part  of  his 
army  to  Aphek,  the  modern  Fukua,4  far  to  the  rear  of 
Saul’s  force,  so  that  retreat  in  any  direction  was  well-nigh 
impossible.  The  unhappy  king  was  thus  almost  sur¬ 
rounded.  With  a  mind  full  of  superstitious  fear,  espe¬ 
cially  since  the  doom  pronounced  on  himself  and  his 
house  by  the  Prophet  Samuel,  a  despairing  trust  in  the 
necromancers  whom  he  had  shortly  before  hunted  down5 
led  him  to  set  out,  by  night,  to  consult  an  old  woman  at 
Endor,  a  hamlet  between  two  and  three  miles  beyond 


]  Zerin,  402  feet  above  the  sea;  Jebel  Duhy,  1,690  feet. 

2  Shunem,  440  feet  above  tjie  sea ;  plain,  at  foot  of  the  hill,  260  feet 
above  the  sea. 

3  1  Sam.  xxviii.  4.  4  1  Sam.  xxix.  1.  6  1  Sam.  xxviii.  3. 


252 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


Shunem,  at  tlie  foot  of  the  northern  face  of  the  hills.  He 
had  thus  to  get  past  the  Philistines,  who  lay  between  him 
and  that  place,  and  he  must  have  crept  and  glided  in  the 
darkness,  as  he  best  could,  behind  every  fold  of  the  ground 
or  shoulder  of  the  hills,  in  fear  at  every  turn  of  being 
caught  by  the  enemy.  The  mud  hovels  of  the  modern 
Endor  cling  to  the  bare  and  stony  hill-side,  in  which 
caves  have  been  dug,  apparently  in  recent  times,  for  marl 
with  which  to  mix  up  mortar.  One,  however,  may  well 
be  ancient :  that  from  which  flows  the  perennial  spring 
Ain  Dor — “the  Fountain  of  Dor  ’’—which  gives  its  name 
to  the  spot.  We  are  wont  to  think  of  witches  as  asso¬ 
ciated  with  caves,  but  there  is  no  ground  for  doing  so 
in  Saul’s  case.  We  only  know  that,  when  left  unanswered 
by  God,  either  “  by  dreams,  by  Urim,  or  by  prophets,” 1 
the  unfortunate  king  met  and  consulted  the  sorceress 
somewhere  near  this  fountain.  Faint-hearted  at  the  result 
of  the  unholy  conference,  and  feeble  from  hunger,  he  was 
in  no  condition  for  the  battle  on  the  morrow.  He  could 
not  retreat,  for  he  had  the  steep  northern  face  of  the 
hills  behind  him,  and  perhaps  it  was  while  he  had  been 
away  at  Endor  that  the  Philistines  had  moved  south¬ 
east  to  Apliek,  cutting  him  off  from  flight  in  that  direc¬ 
tion  also,  should  he  be  defeated.  The  charge  of  the 
enemy  thus  found  Israel  well-nigh  helpless,  and  resistance 
once  overcome  in  front,  the  chariots  had  free  sweep  on 
the  fugitives  from  the  west,  while  the  archers,  spear¬ 
men,  and  other  troops  at  Apliek  could  cut  them  off  as 
they  fled. 

Shunem  is  famous  not  only  for  its  connection  with  the 
battle  of  Gilboa,  but  for  the  touching  story  of  the  Shu- 
nammite  woman  and  her  son.  The  village  consists  of  a 
few  mud  huts,  with  a  garden  of  lemon -trees  inside  a 

1  1  Sam.  xxviii.  6. 


xxxvii.] 


DOTHAN,  GILBOA,  SHUNEM. 


253 


cactus-hedge,  and  a  fountain  and  trough.  But  it  may 
have  been  more  dignified  in  the  days  when  it  was  proud 
of  sending  as  a  wife  to  King  David  the  fairest  virgin 
to  he  found  in  Israel.1  The  “aliyeh,”  or  upper  chamber, 
built  for  the  Prophet  Elisha,  is  a  familiar  feature  in  Pales¬ 
tine  ;  such  structures  on  the  roof  being  very  common.2 
The  words  of  the  kindly  hostess  may  be  translated, 
perhaps  more  correctly  than  in  our  version,  “  Let  us  make, 
I  pray  thee,  a  little  upper  chamber  with  walls,”  in  con¬ 
trast  to  the  mere  awnings  of  branches,  with  open  sides, 
set  up  in  summer  on  the  roofs.  Such  was  the  “summer 
parlour  ”  in  which  Eglon  of  Moab  was  sitting  alone  when 
he  was  murdered  by  Ehud  ; 3  and  David  betook  himself  to 
a  similar  one  “over  the  gates”  to  weep  for  Absalom.4 
Thither,  also,  the  broken-hearted  widow  of  Zarephath5 
carried  the  corpse  of  her  son  and  laid  it  out  to  await 
burial ;  for  a  stair  to  the  roof,  from  the  outside,  makes 
access  to  the  “  aliyeh  ”  easy,  without  going  through  the 
inner  court  on  which  the  backs  of  all  the  houses  open. 
Ahaz  had  altars  to  the  heavenly  bodies  on  the  top  of  his 
“  upper  chamber.”  6  There  were  also  such  rooms  over  the 
great  porch  of  the  Temple,7  some  of  them  very  gorgeous, 
for  they  were  overlaid  with  gold,8  and  we  find  such 
“  aliyehs  ”  in  the  new  streets  of  Jerusalem  when  Nehemiali 
was  rebuilding  it,9  just  as  we  find  them  there  now.  The 
Shunammite  lady’s  house  must  have  been  of  a  superior  class 
to  have  such  a  structure  raised  upon  it,  though  the  ac¬ 
commodation  may  not,  after  all,  have  been  very  imposing. 
But  with  its  pallet — perhaps  a  palm-leaf  or  straw  mat — its 
table,  its  stool,  its  lamp,  and  the  free  access  to  it  possible 


1  1  Kings  i.  3. 

2  2  Kings  iv.  10. 

8  Judg.  iii.  20,  23 — 25. 

4  2  Sam.  xviii.  33. 

8  1  Kings  xvii.  17,  19. 


6  2  Kings  xxiii.  12. 

7  1  Ohron.  xxviii.  11. 

8  2  Cliron.  iii.  9. 

9  Nell.  iii.  31. 


254  THE  HOLT  LAND  AHH  THE  BIBLE.  [Chap.  XXXVII. 

at  all  times  from  the  outer  stairs,  it  was  no  doubt  a  de¬ 
lightful  haven  of  rest  to  the  prophet  on  his  journeys  from 
Carmel,  where  as  a  rule  he  lived,  to  his  native  hamlet 
Abel  Meholah,  “  the  Meadow  of  Dancing,5’  now  called 
Ain  Helweh,1  in  the  Jordan  valley,  twelve  or  thirteen 
miles  below  Beisan.  The  poor  woman  must  have  found 
it  a  very  long  ride  to  Carmel,  under  the  burning  glow  of  a 
harvest  sun,2  with  no  shade  at  any  point,  as  she  urged  her 
ass  over  the  weary  plain,  which  to  her  no  doubt  seemed 
endless  that  day.  But  a  mother’s  love  can  bear  up  a 
frail  body  under  a  terrible  strain. 

1  See  Tent  Work  in  Palestine .  3  2  Kings  iv.  24. 


1 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

BEISAN,  JEZREEL,  NAIN. 

The  Wady  Jalud,  which  leads  down  to  Beisan,  is  about 
twelve  miles  long,  sinking  about  800  feet  before  it 
reaches  that  place,  the  Bethshan  of  the  Bible.  The 
modern  village  and  the  ruins  of  the  once  famous  city 
stand  on  the  crest  of  a  slope,  which  is  about  300  feet 
above  the  steep  side  of  the  sunken  channel  of  the  Jordan, 
to  which  it  descends.  The  open  space  around  the  ancient 
city  is  about  six  miles  from  east  to  west,  but  the  eastern 
spurs  of  Gilboa  approacli  close  to  the  north  of  the 
ruins.  The  valley  by  which  the  descent  is  made  from 
Zerin,  or  Jezreel,  is  from  half  a  mile  to  a  mile  in  breadth, 
gradually  widening  as  it  nears  the  open  country.  On 
the  southern  side  of  the  valley  the  hills  round  off  two 
miles  before  reaching  Beisan,  and  trend  south,  at  a  dis¬ 
tance  of  from  four  to  five  miles  from  the  Jordan,  leaving 
a  long  and  broad  plain  of  surpassing  fertility  at  their  base. 
The  stream  of  Ain  Jalud  runs  down  the  valley  from  Zerin, 
and  there  are  many  other  streamlets  which  flow  through  the 
Beisan  meadows,  turning  them,  over  a  wide  space,  into  very 
marshy  ground,  though  the  remains  of  ancient  aqueducts 
show  that  in  former  times  they  were  utilised  for  irriga¬ 
tion.  The  descent  of  the  valley  is  very  rough,  and  as  the 
open  plain  is,  except  in  small  spots,  quite  in  a  state  of 
nature,  the  past  greatness  of  the  locality  is  in  large  mea¬ 
sure  left  to  the  imagination.  A  huge  mound,  or  “tell,” 
the  site  of  the  ancient  Bethshan,  rises  to  a  height  of 


256  THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE.  [Chap. 

about  100  feet  near  the  foot  of  the  northern  hills.  The 
modern  village  is  a  miserable  hamlet  of  about  sixty  mud 
huts,  built  on  the  south-east  corner  of  the  ancient  site, 
with  a  marshy  rivulet  making  its  slow  way  through  the 
place.  The  circumference  of  the  ancient  city  could  not 
have  been  less  than  two  or  three  miles,  for  the  whole  hill 
is  covered  with  ruins,  the  character  of  which  proves  that 
in  later  times  Betlishan  must  have  been  a  city  of  temples  ; 
pillars  which  once  belonged  to  such  buildings  being  nume¬ 
rous.  The  stones  of  these,  and  indeed  of  all  the  ruins,  are 
of  black  basalt;  the  great  “  tell  ”  itself  being  apparently 
the  basaltic  cone,  partly  worn  away,  of  an  ancient  volcano. 
An  amphitheatre,  portions  of  which  are  in  almost  perfect 
preservation,  can  still  be  traced  along  a  semicircle  of 
nearly  200  feet,  though  the  rank  weeds  grow  high  over 
the  stones.  The  Jalud  long  ago  wore  for  itself  a  deep 
channel  just  below  the  “  tell,”  and  is  still  crossed  by  a 
fine  Roman  arch.  Thick  walls,  perhaps  those  on  which 
the  bodies  of  Saul  and  Jonathan  were  hung  up,  once  sur¬ 
rounded  the  top  of  the  hill,  possibly  enclosing  the  city  of 
those  early  times.  It  was  a  boldly  venturous  deed  of  the 
«  men  of  Jabesh  Grilead  to  come  by  night  and  carry  off  the 
dishonoured  remains,  and  it  shows  that  Sauls  bravery  in 
once  rescuing  their  city  had  not  been  forgotten  by  its 
inhabitants.1  Just  west  of  the  modern  village,  almost 
buried  in  the  soil  and  weeds,  another  memorial  of  Roman 
days  may  be  traced — the  remains  of  a  great  oblong  circus 
or  hippodrome,  280  feet  in  length  and  over  150  feet  broad. 
Ancient  walls  can  be  made  out  round  the  whole  “  tell,”  at 
a  wide  distance  from  it,  marking  the  limits  of  the  city 
when  under  the  Romans  it  had  grown  to  great  dimensions. 
The  name  it  then  bore  was  Scythopolis,  the  origin  of 
which  is  not  clearly  known. 

1  1  Sam.  xi.  4 — 11 ;  xxxi.  12. 


XXXVIII.] 


BEISAX,  JEZREEL,  NAIX. 


257 


It  was  by  the  fords  near  Bethshan,  and  by  the  ascent 
of  Ain  Jalud,  that  the  Midianites  entered  the  great  upper 
plain  in  the  days  of  Gideon.  Bethshan  had  then  long 
been  a  town  or  village,  for  it  is  mentioned  in  the  travels  of 
a  Mohar  in  the  days  of  Bameses  II.,  the  oppressor  of  the 
Hebrews  in  Egypt.1  There  are  a  number  of  fords  over  the 
Jordan  in  the  Beisan  plain,  by  any  of  which  the  fierce 
Ishmaelites  may  have  crossed ;  among  others  that  of 
Abarali,  apparently  the  Bethabara  where  John  baptized.2 
The  oldest  manuscripts,  indeed,  have  “  Bethany  ”  instead 
of  Bethabara,  but  Bathania — “  Soft  Soil  ” — was  the  name 
of  Bashan  in  the  time  of  Christ,  and  thus  Bethabara  was 
in  Bethany,  so  that  both  readings  are  correct,  and  at 
first  were  probably  both  in  the  sacred  text.  Critics  have 
made  a  great  point  of  the  supposed  error  of  the  Evangelist, 
in  speaking  of  “  Bethany  ”  as  being  “  beyond  Jordan,”  but 
they  have  only  shown  by  their  acuteness  the  worthless¬ 
ness  of  many  of  the  clever  points  supposed  to  be  made 
against  the  Gospels. 

Streaming  over  some  of  these  fords,  “  the  Midianites, 
and  the  Amalekites,  and  the  children  of  the  east  ”  forced 
their  way  up  the  Wady-el- Jalud,  and  spread  themselves 
over  Esdraelon,  “  with  their  cattle  and  their  tents,  as 
grasshoppers  for  multitude,  for  both  they  and  their  camels 
were  without  number.”3  The  scene  of  Gideon’s  victory 
must  have  been  near  the  descent  to  Beisan ;  the  descrip¬ 
tion  of  the  battle,  the  flight,  and  the  pursuit  pointing  to 
this ;  but  there  has  been  question  of  late  years  as  to  the 
exact  locality  of  Ain  Harod — “the  Spring  of  Trembling.” 
Gideon  was  encamped,  we  read,  on  Mount  Gilead,4  which, 
in  this  case,  must  be  understood  as  Mount  Jalud — some 
portion  of  the  mass  of  the  Gilboa  hills,  whether  at  the 


1  See  Yol.  I,  p.  3G. 

2  John  i.  28. 


3  Judg.  vi.  3 — 5. 

4  Judg*.  vii.  3. 


r 


258 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chai*. 


upper  or  lower  end  of  tlie  great  wady  is  not  known.  The 
spring  Jalud,  near  Zerin,  or  Jezreel,  has  generally  been 
recognised  as  the  scene  of  Gideon’s  test  of  the  quality  of 
his  followers,  but  Captain  Conder  is  in  favour  of  Ain-el- 
Jemain,  “the  Fountain  of  the  Two  Troops,”  a  large  spring 
at  the  foot  of  the  hills  where  they  trend  to  the  south,  on 
the  under  corner  of  the  wady,  exactly  west  of  Beisan. 
Gideon’s  force,  encamped  on  the  hills  above  the  sloping 
valley,  consisted  of  men  of  Manasseh,  his  own  tribe,  and 
of  Zebulun,  Naphtali,  and  Asher,  from  the  north  of  the 
great  plain,  the  districts  most  affected  by  the  invaders, 
though  troops  of  Arabs  had  scoured  the  land  even  so  far 
south  as  Gaza.1  Having  winnowed  his  little  band  of  heroes 
of  all  faint  hearts  by  the  test  imposed  at  “  the  Spring 
of  Trembling,”  Gideon  could  count  on  them.  Yet,  before 
acting,  he  resolved  to  see  for  himself  the  condition  of 
the  enemy.  Descending  by  night  the  low  slope  of  the  hill 
in  the  folds  of  which  his  men  were  hidden,  he  crept,  with 
his  servant,  towards  the  vast  encampment.  The  valley  was 
full  of  the  tents  of  the  Arabs,  and  both  within  and  around 
these  multitudes  slept,  with  their  numberless  camels  at 
rest  in  their  midst.  A  dream  of  one  of  the  host  told  to  his 
fellow — how  a  barley  cake,  which  had  rolled  down  from 
the  hills  above,  had  struck  and  overthrown  one  of  the  tents 
- — seemed  an  omen  of  success,  on  hearing  which  Gideon 
stole  back  to  the  heights  to  organise  his  attack.  Divddin^ 

CTO  O 

his  three  hundred  men  into  three  companies,  he  provided 
each  man  with  a  torch,  the  burning  end  of  which  he  was 
to  hide  within  an  earthen  pitcher,  as  is  still  done  in  Egypt 
by  the  watchmen  ;  with  their  swords  at  their  sides,  and 
trumpets  in  their  hands,  they  were  to  march  silently  to 
three  points,  which  wTere,  perhaps,  situated  on  each  side  of 
the  valley  at  the  head  of  the  gorge,  and  thus  to  the  west 


XXXVIII.] 


BEISAK,  JEZREEL,  NAIff. 


259 


of  the  host;  and  at  a  given  signal  they  were  to  break  the 
jars,  swing  the  torches  into  brightness,  peal  a  great  blast 
from  each  trumpet,  and  raise  the  terrible  war-cry  of  Israel. 
Sentinels  are  unknown  in  Arab  armies,  nor  were  there 
any  pickets  to  prevent  the  three  hundred  from  approaching 
close.  Awakened  in  a  moment,  through  all  its  length, 
by  the  echoing  shouts  ;  alarmed  by  the  seemingly  count¬ 
less  lights  moving  on  all  sides  ;  confused  by  the  wild 
triumphant  flourishes  of  the  war-horns — the  vast  multi¬ 
tude,  unprepared  for  attack,  fled  this  way  and  that,  with 
loud  cries  that  increased  the  dismay.  Each  saw  a  foe  in 
his  neighbour,  for  darkness  made  it  impossible  to  know 
one  from  another.  Flight  seemed  the  only  safety.  The 
steep  descent  to  the  Jordan  was  the  way  to  their  native 
wilderness,  and  down  it  they  rushed  in  headlong  rout, 
some  south  by  Abel  Meholah,  across  the  Jordan  fords; 
others  by  the  fords  at  Bethabara,  beyond  Beisan,  and 
those  in  the  same  locality  near  it :  the  foe  close  at  their 
heels  till  they  had  reached  the  recesses  of  the  eastern 
desert.  Two  of  their  emirs — Oreb,  “  the  Haven/’  and 
Zeeb,  ‘‘the  Wolf’’ — were  slain  by  the  way;  while  Zebah 
and  Zalmunna,  their  two  principal  leaders,  fell  in  a  second 
battle,  in  the  wilderness.  The  men  of  Peniel  and  Succoth, 
who  had  refused  to  help  in  the  pursuit,  felt  the  vengeance  of 
their  brethren  when  the  final  triumph  had  been  secured, 
their  elders  being  whipped  with  the  thorny  branches  of 
the  acacia,  a  punishment  under  which  they,  in  all  likeli¬ 
hood,  died.  Thus  ended  the  most  signal  victory  ever 
wrought  in  Israel. 

Jezreel  and  its  neighbourhood  are  famous  for  yet  other 
incidents  in  the  history  of  the  Tribes.  It  was  near  this 
city  that  in  later  years  the  best  king  Judah  ever  had, 
met  an  early  death.  The  northern  kingdom  had  already 
been  destroyed,  and  Egypt,  under  Pharaoh  Neclio,  was 
r  2 


260 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


eager  to  win  back  Western  Asia  from  the  now  feeble  bands 
of  Assyria.  Josiah,  himself  coveting  the  territory  of  the 
Ten  Tribes,  or  perhaps  desirous  to  be  loyal  to  Nineveh, 
his  ally,  madly  resolved,  against  all  advice,  to  bar  the  pro¬ 
gress  of  the  Egyptian  army  that  had  marched  up  the  sea- 
coast  plain  and  entered  Esdraelon,  on  its  way  to  Lebanon 
and  the  Euphrates.1  Pharaoh  had  generously  urged  him 
not  to  expose  himself  to  defeat,  and  had  disclaimed  all  in¬ 
tention  of  injuring  him;  but  he  rushed  on  his  fate,  and 
fell,  sore  wounded  by  the  archers,  in  the  plain  of  Megiddo, 
near  a  place  known  as  Hadadrimmon,  apparently  after  the 
name  of  the  chief  Syrian  god — Pimm  on,  “  the  Thunderer.  ” 
Bemoved  from  his  war-cliariot  to  a  second  which  was  kept 
in  reserve,  and  was  perhaps  more  suitable  for  an  ambu¬ 
lance,  be  was  carried  to  Jerusalem  to  die.  The  disaster 
was  appalling  for  Judah,  for  he  was  scarcely  forty  years 
of  age,  and  had  shown  himself  a  splendid  king.  The 
nation  forthwith  began  to  decline.  Loud  and  terrible 
was  the  wailing  for  the  slain  monarch ;  so  terrible,  that 
Zechariah  can  imagine  no  language  more  fitted  to  picture 
the  wailing  of  the  House  of  David  and  of  Jerusalem 
when  they  look  on  Him  whom  they  have  pierced,  than 
by  saying  that  “  there  shall  be  a  great  lamentation 
and  mourning,  as  the  mourning  of  Hadadrimmon  in 
the  valley  of  Megiddo/’ 2  So  deep,  indeed,  had  the  re¬ 
membrance  of  the  great  battle  sunk  into  the  heart  of  the 
Jew,  that  St.  John  gives  the  name  of  Armageddon — “  the 
Hill  of  Megiddo  ” — to  the  gathering-place  of  the  kings 
of  the  earth  for  the  final  decisive  battle  against  the  king¬ 
dom  of  Grod.3  No  wonder  the  Chronicler  tells  us  that 
“all  Judah  and  Jerusalem  mourned  for  Josiah,”  and  that 
J eremiah,  in  a  lost  book,  “  lamented  for  J osiah  ;  and  all  the 

1  2  Kings  xxiii.  29  ;  2  Cliron.  xxxv.  20,  22. 

2  Zecli.  xii.  11.  3  Rev.  xvi.  16. 


XXXVIII.] 


BEISAN,  JEZREEL,  ETAIIL 


261 


singing  men  and  tlie  singing  women  spake  of  him  in  their 
lamentations  to  this  day,  and  made  them  an  ordinance  in 
Israel ;  and  behold  they  are  written  in  the  lamenta¬ 
tions.5’1 

Hadadrimmon  is  identified  by  St.  Jerome  with  the 
present  hamlet  of  Rummaneh,  at  the  foot  of  the  hills  on 
the  Carmel  side  of  Esdraelon,  about  eight  miles  slightly 
south-west  from  Zerin  or  Jezreel ;  and  Megiddo  has  com¬ 
monly  been  supposed  to  he  represented  by  the  village  of 
Ledjun,  which  has  already  been  mentioned  as  the  Roman 
Legio,  about  three  and  a  half  miles  north  of  Rummaneh, 
at  the  foot  of  the  hills.  Captain  Conder,  however,  finds 
Megiddo  in  the  ruined  site  El-Mu  jedda,  at  the  foot  of  the 
hills,  in  the  Beisan  plain,  about  three  miles  south-west 
from  that  old  city.  The  question  can  hardly  be  said  to 
be  as  yet  decisively  settled. 

Still  another  great  battle  in  Scripture  history  is  asso¬ 
ciated  with  these  localities — that  of  Barak  over  Sisera, 
which  I  should  have  mentioned  before  that  won  by 
Gideon.  The  oppressor  of  Israel  at  the  time  was  Jabin, 
King  of  Hazor,  a  place  near  the  Lake  of  Merom  or 
Huleh.  Hostility  to  the  Hebrews  on  the  part  of  the  chiefs 
of  this  district  dated  from  the  time  of  Joshua,  for  they 
had  fought  bitterly  against  him.2  Zebulun,  Naphtali,  and 
Issachar,  being  the  nearest,  suffered  most  at  Jabin’s  hand, 
and  had  to  bear  the  brunt  of  the  war,  but  they  were  joined 
by  the  tribes  of  Ephraim,  Manasseli,  and  Benjamin  from 
the  south  of  the  great  plain.  Barak,  with  Deborah  the 
prophetess,  who  was  the  heroine  in  the  struggle  for 
freedom,  had  encamped  on  the  broad  top  of  Mount  Tabor,3 
which  rises  1,500  feet  above  the  plain,  to  the  north  of 
Endor,  at  the  edge  of  the  Galilsean  hills.  The  forces  of 
Sisera,  the  general  of  Jabin  and  his  allies,  with  900 

1  2  Chron.  xxxv.  25.  3  Josh.  xi.  1 — 12.  3  Judg.  iv.  6. 


262 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


iron  chariots,  were  drawn  np  in  the  plain  near  Megiddo, 
where  the  numerous  springs  from  the  eastern  part  of 
Esdraelon  unite  to  form  the  Kishon,  the  course  of  which, 
creeping  under  the  shadow  of  the  hills,  is  marked  even 
in  the  dry  season  by  a  string  of  pools  fringed  with  reeds 
and  rushes.  The  soft  soil  of  the  whole  plain,  indeed,  is 
so  furrowed  by  water-courses  that  a  great  rain,  causing 
these  hollows  to  overflow,  for  a  time  converts  the  ground 
everywhere  into  a  quagmire.  So  long  as  the  plain  was 
dry,  no  place  could  have  better  suited  a  great  chariot-force  ; 
hut  after  a  storm  the  wheels  were  useless,  and  in  case  of  a 
defeat,  safety  lay  only  in  abandoning  everything  and  flee¬ 
ing  on  foot.  Taking  advantage  of  a  fierce  rainfall,  Barak 
rushed  down  from  his  hill-fortress,  and  assailed  Sisera,  now 
helpless,  inflicting  utter  defeat  on  his  vast,  unmanageable 
army.  The  storm  had  filled  every  hollow  with  a  rushing 
stream,  and  had  swollen  Kishon — “  that  river  of  battles  ” 
— on  which  the  fugitives  were  driven  back,  so  that  it  swept 
them  away.  Those  who  could  escape  fled  northwards  by  the 
foot  of  the  hills  to  Harosheth,  now  the  miserable  village 
of  El-Harathiyeh,  where  the  great  plain  is  contracted  to 
a  narrow  neck  through  which  the  Kishon,  in  a  gorge 
heavily  fringed  with  oleanders,  passes  into  the  plain  of 
Acre.  Here,  they  could  cross  to  their  own  Galilee  by 
low  hills,  now  covered  with  scrub- oak,  and  once  among 
the  northern  mountains  they  were  comparatively  safe. 

Sisera  himself  fled  in  an  opposite  direction.  Beach¬ 
ing  the  slopes  of  Tabor,  he  made  for  the  lava  plateau  four 
or  five  miles  behind  the  lower  end  of  the  Lake  of 
Galilee,  where  stood  the  tent  of  Heber  the  Kenite — not 
far  from  the  village  of  Kadish,  overlooking  the  waters. 
We  all  know  the  result,  but  it  is  not  so  generally 
known  that  the  “leben,”  or  sour  goats'-milk,  which  Jael 
gave  him,  is  a  strong  soporific,  under  the  influence  of  which, 


XXXVIII.] 


BEISAK,  JEZREEL,  KAIK. 


263 


in  addition  to  his  exhaustion,  the  unfortunate  man  fell  an 
easy  prey  to  his  treacherous  murderer,  who,  though  a 
heroine  according  to  Arab  notions,  can  only  be  regarded 
as  a  very  questionable  saint  according  to  ours.  The  de¬ 
feat  took  place,  most  probably,  at  the  commencement  of 
the  winter  rains,  and  if  so,  this  may  give  a  literal  vivid¬ 
ness  to  the  words  of  Deborah  that  “  the  stars  in  their 
courses  fought  against  Sisera,” 1  for  the  annual  showers  of 
meteors  are  most  frequent  about  November,  and  if  seen 
by  the  terrified  fugitives,  would  seem  an  awful  sign  of 
celestial  wrath  pursuing  them  to  their  destruction. 

Jezreel  was  once  the  second  capital  of  the  northern 
kingdom,  but  has  now  shrunk,  as  I  have  said,  into  a  few 
wretched  huts.  High  over  these  rise  the  broken  walls  of 
an  old  tower,  possibly  on  the  site  of  the  lofty  royal  palace- 
castle,  from  the  top  of  which  warders  were  at  all  times  on 
the  look-out  to  announce  any  approaching  danger.  The 
view  from  it  ranges  far  and  wide,  in  every  direction.  In 
the  hands  of  the  Canaanites  the  town  was  famous  for  its 
iron  chariots,  and  proved  a  difficult  place  for  the  Hebrews 
to  take ; 2  but,  once  wrested  from  them,  it  fell  to  the  lot  of 
the  tribe  of  Issacliar.3  In  later  times  Aliab  built  a  palace 
in  it,4  with  gardens  reaching  up  the  steep  slope  of  the 
hill,  where,  doubtless,  also  lay  the  vineyard  of  Naboth, 
to  get  which  Jezebel  committed  the  hideous  crime  that 
ultimately  ruined  her  husband’s  house.5  A  temple  was 
raised  in  the  place  by  the  queen  to  Astarte,  with  a  staff 
of  four  hundred  priests.6  Everything  was  on  the  scale 
of  luxury  which  we  might  expect  from  a  king  who  built 
a  palace  coated  over  with  ivory — perhaps  in  this  very 
Jezreel.  In  the  midst  of  the  enclosed  groves,  which  were 

N 

1  Judg.  y.  20.  4  1  Kings  xviii.  45. 

2  Josh.  xvii.  16.  6  1  Kings  xxi.  1. 

3  Josh.  xix.  18.  6  1  Kings  xvi.  33 ;  2  Kings  x.  11. 


264 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


watered  by  the  abundant  fountains  near,1  lay  a  fine  garden- 
house,  and  above  this  rose  the  lofty  watch-tower.2  Look¬ 
ing  out  from  this  high  vantage-ground  down  the  ravine  to¬ 
wards  the  Jordan,  the  warder  once  had  momentous  news  to 
announce  to  those  below.  Up  the  ascent  flew  some  chariots, 
one  leading  the  way,  and  in  it  Jebu,  the  head  of  Joram’s 
army,  who  had  conspired  against  his  master  and  was  on 
his  way  to  destroy  Jezebel  and  her  race.  “I  see  a  com¬ 
pany/’  cried  the  look-out,  “  and  the  driving  is  like  the 
driving  of  Jehu,  the  son  of  Nimslii,  for  he  driveth  furi¬ 
ously.’’  A  few  minutes  later,  Joram,  who,  though  still 
weak  with  a  recent  wound  at  Bamoth  Gilead,  had  gone 
out  in  his  chariot  to  meet  his  general,  lay  with  the 
arrow  of  Jehu  through  his  heart,  in  the  field  of  Naboth, 
bought  by  his  father  and  mother  at  the  heavy  price  of 
murder  and  its  curse.3  Once  more  behind  his  horses,  Jehu 
rushed  on  to  Jezreel,  passing  under  the  windows  far  up  in 
the  wall  of  the  palace,  which  must  have  been  built  on  the 
line  of  the  town  wall.  But  the  evil  news  of  her  son’s 
death  had  already  reached  the  now  aged  mother,  or  perhaps 
she  had  seen  the  dismal  tragedy  from  her  lofty  lattice, 
and,  true  to  herself  to  the  last,  she  resolved  to  die  bravely. 
Getting  her  maids  to  paint  her  eyelids,  and  tire  her  head, 
she  looked  out  composedly  at  one  of  the  windows,  and 
greeted  Jehu  as  he  entered  the  town  gate  with  the  taunt¬ 
ing  words,  “  Had  Zimri  peace — did  it  go  well  with  him 
who  slew  his  master  ?  ”  The  would  have  him  remember 
that,  after  a  seven  days’  reign,  Zimri  was  crushed  by  the 
army,  indignant  at  his  usurpation,  and  died  by  his  own 
hand  in  the  flames  of  the  king’s  palace,  which  he  had  set 
on  fire  as  his  funeral  pile.  But  such  a  bitter  stab,  at 
such  a  moment,  only  exasperated  the  fierce  soldier.  Lift¬ 
ing  up  his  eyes  to  the  window,  he  cried  out,  “  Who  is 
1  2  Kings  ix.  27.  2  2  Kings  ix.  17.  3  2  Kings  ix.  24,  25. 


XXXVIII.] 


BEISAK,  JEZREEL,  K AIK. 


265 


on  my  side  ?  ”  “  And  there  looked  out  to  him  two  or 

three  eunuchs.  And  he  said,  Throw  her  down.  So  they 
threw  her  down,  and  some  of  her  blood  was  sprinkled 
on  the  wall,  and  on  the  horses ;  and  he  trod  her  under 
foot  [of  the  horses].”  Then,  as  now,  numbers  of  house¬ 
less  town  dogs  prowled  round  the  mounds  of  ashes  and 
refuse  in  the  open  space  beside  the  walls,  and  the  taste 
of  her  blood  soon  attracted  so  many  that  when  men  were 
sent  out,  after  a  time,  to  bury  her,  they  found  only  her 
skull,  her  feet,  and  the  palms  of  her  hands.1 

There  is  nothing  to  be  seen  in  the  present  village  but 
the  tower,  which  is  used  for  a  khan,  or  resting-place  for 
travellers.  The  town  dogs  follow  you  with  hideous  uproar 
as  you  go  through  the  few  streets — if  one  can  use  the 
word  for  such  a  collection  of  hovels.  The  inhabitants  live 
in  perpetual  feud  with  the  Bedouins,  who,  by  violence  or 
theft,  are  continually  plundering  the  poor  peasants. 

Shunem,  of  which  I  have  already  spoken,2  lies  about 
four  miles  off,  to  the  north.  On  the  other  side  of  the 
great  hill  Neby  Duhy — the  “  Little  Hermon  ”  of  the 
Nazareth  Christians,  though  this  name  should  rather  be 
given  to  Mount  Tabor — lies  the  ever-sacred  spot  Nain, 
where  our  Lord  raised  the  young  man  to  life  as  he  lay 
on  his  bier.  Shunem  lies  on  the  southern  slope  of  the 
great  hill,  Nain  on  its  northern,  the  lofty  peak  being,  in 
reality,  only  a  great  basalt  mass,  left  standing  up  bold  and 
steep ;  the  soft  limestone  rocks  through  which  it  ouce 
forced  itself  from  the  abyss  having  been  washed  away  in 
the  course  of  countless  ages.  Above  Nain  its  sides  are  a 
wild  chaos  of  grey  and  black  fragments  of  basalt,  which 
have  been  split  by  time  from  the  mountain,  and  give  it  a 
very  desolate  appearance.  The  village  now  consists  only 
of  some  wretched  mud  hovels ;  but  foundations  of  stone 

1  2  Kings  ix.  30—36. 


2  See  ante,  p.  251. 


266 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE.  [Chap.  XXXVIII. 


houses,  far  outside  them,  show  that  it  was  once  larger 
and  more  prosperous.  No  signs  of  its  having  been  walled 
remain,  so  that  the  “  gate  of  the  city  ”  spoken  of  in  the 
Gospels  may  have  meant  the  entrance  to  it,  where  the 
houses  began :  a  not  uncommon  form  of  speech.1  On  the 
right  of  the  path  from  the  village  are  some  rock-cut  tombs, 
reached  by  passing  the  hollow  through  which  runs  the 
way  from  Nazareth — that,  in  all  probability,  used  by  our 
Lord  on  His  journey  to  Nain.  The  mourners  were  carry¬ 
ing  the  body  to  one  of  these  tombs  when  Christ  met  them, 
as  they  advanced  down  the  slope  towards  the  village 
spring.  There  are,  indeed,  tombs  in  the  rocks  to  the  east, 
but  a  procession  to  them  would  not  meet  travellers  from 
Nazareth,  whence  our  Lord  and  the  disciples  were  coming. 
There  are  no  attractions  of  trees  or  gardens  around;  all  is 
bareness  and  poverty ;  yet  the  remembrance  of  the  Gospel 
story  throws  a  glory  over  the  spot.  You  are  on  the  very 
ground  once  trodden  by  the  Blessed  One  !  Tabor  rises  to 
the  north  about  two  miles  off,  a  rich,  partly- tilled  valley 
intervening,  with  a  great  slope  beyond,  rough  with  scrub- 
oak,  locust,  arbutus,  lentisk,  and  terebinth  trees  :  a  fair 
sight  to  see. 

1  Luke  vii.  11  fe. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 


NAZARETH. 

The  ride  to  Nazareth  from  Jezreel  is  a  tempting  one 
for  a  canter — smooth  soft  earth  inviting  you  to  let  your 
beast  have  his  way  when  he  wishes  to  hurry.  It  would  be 
impossible  to  imagine  a  richer  tract  of  land,  but  much  of 
it  lies  idle,  and  whole  fields  of  thistles  are  to  be  seen. 
Only  one  small  hamlet  lay  on  our  track  over  the  broad 
plain,  which  seemed  to  widen  as  we  advanced,  the  clear  air 
leading  strangers  to  under-estimate  the  distance.  But  the 
hamlet  is  a  historical  one,  for  round  it,  in  1799,  a  great 
battle  was  fought  by  IOeber  and  Napoleon,  in  which 
2,100  Frenchmen  routed  25,000  Turks.  We  were,  in¬ 
deed,  passing  over  the  battle-ground  of  Palestine,  where 
the  war-cry  of  Midianites,  Philistines,  Egyptians,  Jews, 
Romans,  Crusaders,  Saracens,  French,  and  Turks  had 
filled  the  air,  again  and  again,  through  more  than  three 
thousand  years.  At  last  the  foot  of  the  hills  was 
reached,  and  the  horses  began  to  climb  the  steep  ascent  of 
1,000  feet  that  brings  one  to  the  plateau  in  a  fold  of 
which,  three  miles  back  among  its  own  hills,  lies  Naza¬ 
reth.  The  great  cliff*  on  the  left,  at  the  side  of  a  narrow 
pass,  has  been  shown,  since  the  Middle  Ages,  as  that  over 
which  His  townsmen  proposed  to  cast  our  Lord,  but  the 
scene  of  the  incident  could  not  have  been  here. 

Sheets  of  smooth  rock  ;  fields  of  huge  boulders,  between 
which,  at  times,  there  was  scarcely  room  to  pass ;  acres  of 


268 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


loose  stones  of  all  sizes,  no  path  or  track  visible — parts  so 
steep  that  to  hold  on  to  the  horse’s  mane  was  a  help, — every¬ 
thing  unspeakably  rough  and  difficult,— such  was  the  way 
up  the  face  of  the  rocks  to  get  to  the  table-land  on  which 
Nazareth  stands.  After  a  time  spots  of  green  appeared  on 
the  wide,  unearthly  desolation,  and  some  lean  cattle  were 
to  be  seen  picking  up  poor  mouthfuls  among  the  stones. 
Further  on  was  a  larger,  hut  still  very  small,  spot  of 
green.  Goats  and  sheep  alone  could  find  sustenance  in 
such  a  weird  place.  After  an  hour’s  ride,  during  which 
we  passed  both  camels  and  donkeys  toiling  up  the  face  of 
the  hill  with  heavy  loads,  we  came  to  a  spring  at  the  way- 
side,  now  running,  but  dry  in  summer.  At  last,  all  at 
once,  a  small  valley  opened  below,  set  round  with  hills, 
and  a  pleasant  little  town  appeared  to  the  west.  Its 
straggling  houses,  of  white,  soft  limestone,  and  mostly 
new,  rose  row  over  row  up  the  steep  slope.  A  fine  large 
building,  with  slender  cypresses  growing  around  it,  stood 
nearest  to  us ;  a  minaret  looked  down  a  little  to  the  rear. 
Fig-trees,  single  and  in  clumps,  were  growing  here  and 
there  in  the  valley,  which  was  covered  with  crops  of 
grain,  lentils,  and  beans.  Above  the  town  the  hills  were 
steep  and  high,  with  thin  pasture,  sheets  of  rock,  fig-trees, 
and  now  and  then  an  enclosed  spot.  The  small  domed 
tomb-shrine  of  a  Mahommedan  saint  crowned  the  upper 
end  of  the  western  slope. 

Such  was  Nazareth,  the  home  of  our  Lord.  I  had  a 
kind  invitation  from  Dr.  Yartan,  medical  missionary  of  the 
Scottish  Societv,  but  could  not  find  his  house  till  I  had  first 
discovered  that  of  the  English  missionary,  by  nationality 
a  German,  by  whom  a  man  was  kindly  sent  to  guide  us  to 
our  hospitable  quarters.  The  streets  are  not  more  than 
from  six  to  ten  feet  broad,  causewayed,  but  still  rough, 
with  a  gutter  in  the  centre,  not  always  clean ;  but  many 


XXXIX.] 


NAZARETH. 


269 


of  the  houses  are  new,  and  this  gave  to  the  whole  place 
an  air  of  brightness  hardly  seen  outside  of  Bethlehem. 
Dr.  Vartan’s  house  stands  on  the  top  of  the  hill,  and  is 
reached  by  a  path  cut  zigzag  up  the  steep  white  lime¬ 
stone,  hard  enough  for  my  tired  horse,  but  harder  still 
for  a  tired  man.  Once  on  the  plateau  above,  however, 
I  found  a  wide  stretch  of  level  rock,  on  which  an  excel¬ 
lent  stone  house  had  been  built,  and  part  of  a  hospital. 
This,  however,  the  Turks,  who  are  jealous  of  everything 
English  in  Palestine,  had  stopped.  Need  I  say  that  the 
view  from  such  a  height  was  intensely  interesting  ?  To 
the  south  lay  Jezreel,  and  east  of  it  the  mountains  of 
Gilboa,  the  villages  of  Nain  and  Endor,  the  hills  of 
Gilead,  and  the  top  of  Mount  Ebal;  to  the  north,  the 
snowy  top  of  Hermon,  the  city  of  Safed,  the  village  of 
Sepplioris,  and  the  plain  of  Buttauf,  while  from  a  neigh¬ 
bouring  hill,  Carmel,  the  Bay  of  Acre,  and  the  town  of 
Haifa  were  in  sight. 

Numerous  hills,  not  grassy  like  those  of  England,  but 
bare,  white,  and  rocky,  though  here  and  there  faintly 
green,  shut  in  Nazareth  from  the  outer  world ;  the  last 
heights  of  Galilee,  as  they  melt  away  into  the  plain  of 
Esdraelon.  Their  long,  rounded  tops  have  no  wild  beauty, 
and  there  are  no  ravines  or  shady  woods  to  make  them 
romantic  or  picturesque  ;  indeed,  as  far  as  the  eye  reaches, 
they  are  treeless,  or  very  nearly  so.  The  level  space  behind 
Dr.  Vartan’s  residence  was  an  epitome  of  the  soil  every¬ 
where.  It  seemed  as  if  there  were  nothing  but  solid  lime¬ 
stone,  on  which  it  would  be  hopeless  to  try  to  grow 
anything ;  and  yet  the  chaos  of  stones  from  the  house  and 
hospital,  and  from  the  friable  surface  generally,  only  needs 
water  to  make  it  exceedingly  fertile.  A  vineyard  had 
already  been  planted,  as  well  as  fig  and  olive  trees,  and 
it  will  no  doubt  justify  the  labour  and  expense. 


270 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


There  is  a  nice  little  Protestant  church  at  Nazareth, 
with,  a  congregation  drawn  from  the  members  of  the 
Greek  church,  and  there  is  a  school  for  both  boys  and 
girls;  152  boys  being  present  when  I  visited  their 
section.  Education,  indeed,  is  the  great  hope  of  Mis¬ 
sions.  “  Preaching  is  of  no  use,”  said  the  people  of 
Cana  of  Galilee  naively  to  the  missionary :  “  give  us 
schools.”  There  are  five  stations  in  the  villages  around, 
but  it  would  need  the  enthusiasm  and  self-denial  of 
a  St.  Paul  to  do  much  real  good  ;  so  stony  and  indif¬ 
ferent  is  the  population,  and  so  poor.  Yet  there  are, 
doubtless,  true  Christians  among  them.  The  Society  for 
the  Promotion  of  Female  Education  in  the  East  has  a 
very  fine  building,  with  eighty- seven  orphan  girls  in  train¬ 
ing.  I  went  over  the  establishment,  and  was  greatly 
pleased  with  it.  Beautifully  clean  and  well-ordered  in  all 
respects,  it  was  also  a  model  of  economical  management: 
for  the  maintenance  of  a  girl  for  a  year  was  reckoned  at 
no  more  than  from  seven  to  ten  pounds.  The  Poman 
Catholics  have  two  sisterhoods,  who  teach  a  school  for 
girls ;  the  Franciscan  monks  have  a  school  for  hoys. 
There  is  also  a  Greek  Bishop,  and  with  him  two  or 
three  priests,  who  have  another  school  for  boys.  The 
infants  of  the  town  have  a  school  for  themselves,  where 
the  attendance  is  from  seventy  to  ninety  ;  the  expense  is 
defrayed  by  a  lady  in  America.  Except  in  the  orphanage, 
the  teachers,  so  far  as  I  saw,  were  natives. 

It  was  very  pleasant  to  wander  about  the  little  town. 
Masterless  dogs  prowled  about  here,  as  elsewhere,  devouring 
all  the  offal  they  could  find.  In  one  street  several  houses 
were  being  built,  the  stone  for  them  being  hewn  out  of  the 
rock  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  road,  so  steep  is  the  hill. 
But  wdierever  a  house  is  built,  the  foundations  are  care¬ 
fully  laid  on  the  rock,  even  where  the  position  may  require 


XXXIX.] 


NAZARETH. 


271 


heavy  cutting  to  do  so.1  The  town  has  no  walls,  and 
is  divided  into  three  districts — the  Greek  quarter,  the 
Latin  or  Roman  Catholic,  and  the  Moslem  ;  the  muni¬ 
cipal  authorities  being  a  Caimacam,  or  lieutenant-governor, 
and  a  Kadi,  or  judge.  The  Franciscans  have  a  great 
monastery  and  a  fine  church,  which,  however,  is  only 
150  years  old;  and  they  claim  several  holy  sites,  though 
these  are  of  no  authority.  There  are,  further,  a  Fran¬ 
ciscan  convent,  and  a  hospice  for  pilgrims,  in  a  narrow 
street  leading  up  by  steps  between  poor  huts  of  stone  to 
a  lane  where  stands  the  English  church,  which  seats  500 
persons,  and  has  a  parsonage  near  it.  All  these  buildings 
are  at  the  south-west  corner  of  the  town. 

The  water  of  Nazareth  is  mainly  derived  from  rain- 
cisterns,  for  there  is  only  one  spring,  and  in  autumn 
its  supply  is  precarious.  A  momentous  interest,  how¬ 
ever,  gathers  around' this  single  fountain,  for  it  has  been 
in  use  for  immemorial  ages,  and,  no  doubt,  often  saw  the 
Virgin  and  her  Divine  Child  among  those  who  frequented 
it  morning  and  evening,  as  the  mothers  of  the  town,  many 
with  children  at  their  side,  do  now.  The  water  comes 
through  spouts  in  a  stone  wall,  under  an  arched  recess 
built  for  shelter,  and  falls  into  a  trough  at  which  a  dozen 
persons  can  stand  side  by  side.  Thence  it  runs  into  a 
square  stone  tank  at  the  side,  against  which  gossips  at  all 
hours  delight  to  lean.  The  water  that  flows  over  the  top 
of  the  trough  below  the  spouts  makes  a  small  pool  imme¬ 
diately  beneath  them,  and  there  women  wash  their  linen, 
and  even  their  children ;  standing  in  the  water,  ankle-deep, 
their  baggy  trousers  —  striped  pink  or  green — tucked 
between  their  knees,  while  those  coming  for  water  are  con¬ 
tinually  passing  and  repassing  with  their  jars,  empty  or 
full,  on  their  heads.  The  spring  lies  under  the  town,  and 

1  Luke  vi.  48. 


272 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


as  tlie  Nazareth  of  ancient  times,  as  shown  by  old  cisterns 
and  tombs,  was  rather  higher  np  the  hill  than  at  present, 
the  fountain  must  in  those  days  have  been  still  farther 
away  from  the  houses.  Hence  it  is  very  probable  that  the 
“brow  of  the  hill”1  may  have  been  one  of  the  cliffs  above 
the  town,  or  one  now  hidden  by  the  houses.  However,  in 
such  a  hilly  place  there  are  precipices  in  many  directions. 
The  open  valley  to  the  west,  now  under  crop,  gives 
level  space  for  threshing-floors,  for  which  it  is  used  after 
harvest. 

Looking  up  at  the  banks  of  houses  from  this  point,  the 
whiteness  of  the  new  stone  reflects  a  glare  of  sunlight ; 
hut  it  is  said  that  the  stone  moulders  away  so  quickly 
that  in  fifty  years  a  building  appears  to  be  of  venerable  age, 
and  hence  the  oldest-looking  house  may  be  very  modern,  in 
spite  of  its  decay.  The  fountain,  or  “  Well  of  Nazareth,” 
stands  in  a  wide  open  space,  with  a  rough,  intermittent 
line  of  olive-trees  and  clumps  and  hedges  of  prickly 
pear  at  a  good  distance,  leaving  ample  room  for  the 
tents  of  travellers,  the  romping  of  children,  and  the 
resting  of  camels  or  flocks.  The  town  is  only  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  long,  so  that  it  is  a  small  place,  at  the  best ; 
the  population  being  made  up  of  about  2,000  Maliom- 
medans,  1,000  Homan  Catholics,  2,500  Greek  Christians, 
and  100  Protestants — not  quite  6,000  in  all;  but  its 
growth  even  to  this  size  is  only  recent,  for  thirty  years 
ago  Nazareth  was  a  poor  village.  The  fact  that  there 
is  only  one  spring  seems  to  show  that  it  could  at  no  time 
have  been  very  large. 

Our  tents  were  pitched  in  the  open  space  at  the 
Virgin’s  Fountain,  though  we  lived  at  Hr.  Vartan’s.  Sit¬ 
ting  in  them  occasionally,  it  was  curious  to  notice  the 
moving  life  around.  Boys  playing  ball,  just  as  with  us ; 

1  Luke  iy.  29. 


XXXIX.] 


NAZARETH. 


273 


a  girl  in  a  coloured  cotton  skirt,  with  a  white  cotton 
jacket  over  it,  carrying  a  water -jar  on  her  head ;  a 
passing  string  of  mangy-looking  camels  ;  two  or  three 
horses,  picketed  and  feeding  ;  a  woman  in  a  black  jacket 
and  coloured  skirt,  with  a  great  canvas  sack-load  on  her 
head ;  a  long-nosed  yellow  dog  prowling  round  ;  a  donkey 
laden  with  square  tins  of  American  paraffin ;  an  old  Greek 
priest  with  a  long  beard,  and  a  hat  with  the  rim  at  the 
top  instead  of  the  bottom  ;  a  mounted  Arab  with  his 
long  spear  balanced  across  his  lean  horse, — all  these  passed 
in  the  space  of  a  few  minutes.  It  was  near  the  time  of 
sunset,  and  the  women,  straight  in  the  back  as  soldiers, 
were  going  to  the  well  with  their  jars  on  their  heads, 
glorying  in  skirts  and  jackets  of  all  colours — pink,  scarlet, 
blue,  white,  and  sage-green,  among  others.  Meanwhile, 
herds  of  lean  cattle  were  being  driven  in  from  the  hills  for 
protection  through  the  night. 

The  Virgin’s  Spring  bursts  out  of  the  ground  inside 
the  Greek  Church  of  the  Annunciation,  which  is  modern, 
though  a  church  stood  on  the  same  site  at  least  as  early 
as  a.d.  700.  They  say  that  it  was  at  this  spot  the  angel 
Gabriel  appeared  to  the  Virgin  ;  and  if  there  is  nothing 
to  prove  the  legend,  there  is,  of  course,  nothing  to  con¬ 
tradict  it.  Indeed,  the  association  of  such  a  visit  with 
the  outflow  of  living  water  from  the  rock  has  a  certain 
congruity  that  is  pleasing.  The  church  is  half  below 
ground,  and  the  spring,  rising  freely,  is  led  past  the  high 
altar,  where  it  fills  a  well  for  the  use  of  pilgrims,  and  then 
flows  along  a  conduit  to  the  stone  arch  and  covered  tank, 
to  pour  out  from  the  wall  through  the  metal  spouts. 
The  Christian  women,  by  the  way,  wear  no  veils,  though 
they  have  a  gay  handkerchief  lying  over  the  head, 
the  hair  falling  down  the  back  from  beneath  it  in 
long  plaits.  The  Mahommedan  women,  on  the  contrary, 


274  THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE.  [Chap. 

are  veiled ;  but  all  tlie  sex,  alike,  have  drapery  so 
slight,  though  it  covers  their  whole  persons,  that  the 
figure  is  displayed  with  a  clearness  very  strange  to 
Western  ideas,  though  perfectly  modest.  Instead  of  a 
row  of  coins  over  the  forehead,  such  as  is  worn  by  their 
Bethlehem  sisters,  the  women  of  Nazareth  wear  strings  of 
them  at  each  side  of  the  face.  It  was  doubtless  a  piece 
of  money  from  such  a  string  that  had  been  lost  by  the 
woman  in  the  parable,1  who  forthwith  lighted  a  lamp  and 
swept  the  house,  and  sought  diligently  till  she  found  it. 
With  no  window,  the  door  giving  the  only  light,  the  lamp 
was  needed  even  by  day ;  and  where  the  woman  was  so 
poor  as  to  have  only  ten  coins  in  her  ornaments,  it  is 
easy  to  realise  how  piteous  her  lament  would  be  at  her 
loss,  and  how  exulting  her  cry  to  her  neighbours  when  she 
had  regained  her  treasure. 

The  shops  of  Nazareth  are  as  primitive,  one  would 
think,  as  they  could  have  been  in  the  days  of  our  Lord. 
Unfortunately,  the  carpenters  have  introduced  the  modern 
novelty  of  a  work-bench,  and  no  longer  sit  on  the  floor 
beside  the  board  at  which  they  work,  as  some  related 
crafts  still  do  elsewhere.  But  their  tools  are  very  simple, 
and  it  is  interesting  to  notice  them  doing  a  great  deal  at  the 
door-sill,  in  the  light,  which  with  us  can  only  be  done  at 
the  bench.  They  sit  on  the  ground  to  drill  holes  in  wood 
or  to  use  the  adze ;  but  at  the  best  their  work  seems  to 
us  very  rude.  Blacksmiths,  with  tiny  bellows  and  furnace 
and  small  anvil,  find  abundant  employment  in  sharpen¬ 
ing  the  simple  ploughs  and  mattocks  of  the  peasantry, 
and  making  folding  knives  for  them,  the  quality  of  which 
may  be  judged  from  their  price,  which  is  only  twopence  or 
threepence.  Shoemakers  also  do  a  good  trade,  sitting, 
like  all  other  workmen  who  can  do  so,  at  the  door  or  in 


1  Luke  xv.  8. 


XXXIX.] 


NAZARETH. 


275 


the  street;  but  tlieir  skill  is  confined  to  slight  short 
boots  of  bright-coloured  leather,  or  to  slippers  without 
heels,  which  are  all  that  one  sees,  as  a  rule,  even  on  the 
roughest  roads. 

The  contrast  between  the  women  of  Nazareth  and 
their  peasant  sisters  is  very  striking,  the  superior  circum¬ 
stances  of  the  townsfolk  affording  them  better  food  and 
easier  lives  than  the  others  enjoy.  In  youth  the  figure  of 
the  women  of  Palestine  is  often  admirable,  but  the  matrons 
are  very  shrivelled — partly,  no  doubt,  from  the  climate. 
Young  women  are  careful  to  conceal  the  bosom,  so  far  as 
thin  cotton,  fitting  pretty  closely,  can  do  it ;  but  when 
they  have  had  families  they  grow  indifferent  on  this 
point.  Perhaps  this  may  arise  from  the  length  of  time 
they  nurse  their  children,  infants  being  seldom  weaned 
under  two  years  of  age,  and  a  son  may  have  “  his  own 
milk  ”  for  even  double  that  time,  it  being  a  common 
belief  that  the  longer  a  child  is  kept  at  the  breast  the 
stronger  he  grows.  It  was  on  this  ground  that  Hannah 
stayed  from  the  yearly  pilgrimage  to  Shiloh  for  we  do  not 
know  how  many  years.  Samuel,  however,  was  old  enough 
to  be  left  with  Eli  when  she  took  him  to  the  Tabernacle 
on  his  being  weaned,1  and  he  could  scarcely  have  been 
considered  so  had  he  not  been  a  pretty  big  child.  In 
allusion  to  the  same  prolonged  nursing,  Isaiah,  asking — • 
“  Whom  doth  He  teach  knowledge  ?  And  whom  doth 
He  make  to  understand  instruction  ?  ”  answers — “  Those 
that  are  weaned  from  the  milk  and  withdrawn  from  the 
breasts/’2  The  Evangelist,  also,  quoting  from  the  Greek 
version  of  the  Psalms,  tells  us  that  God  perfects  praise 
out  of  the  mouths  of  sucklings.3 

I  did  not  see  such  dirtiness  among  the  Nazareth 
children  as  one  meets  with  so  often  elsewhere  in  the  Holy 

1  1  Sara.  i.  21 — 23.  2  Isa.  xxyiii.  9.  3  Matt.  xxi.  16. 

S  2 


276 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE.  [Chap.  XXXIX. 


Land.  Here,  however,  as  everywhere  else,  fear  of  “the  evil 
eye”  is  prevalent.  A  prayer  is  uttered  before  eating,  lest 
that  dreaded  evil  have  been  turned  on  the  food,  which  in 
that  case,  hut  for  the  prayer,  would  yield  no  nourishment. 
Against  this  mysterious  danger,  children  very  generally 
wear  a  charm  enclosed  in  a  case  on  the  top  of  their  caps ; 
and  horses  often  have  something  of  the  same  kind  on 
their  head-gear.  Salt,  sprinkled  on  children  shortly  after 
birth,  is  thought  to  be  a  protection  against  it,  and  for  the 
same  reason  it  is  sprinkled  freely  at  the  circumcision  of 
boys,  which  takes  place  when  they  are  entering  puberty. 
This  superstition  in  part  explains  why  it  is  that  children 
are  left  so  filthy ;  since  they  are  thus,  it  is  fancied,  less 
in  danger  of  attracting  attention  from  those  who  might 
injure  them  by  a  baleful  look. 


CHAPTER  XL. 


TABOR,  EL-MAHRAKAH,  CARMEL. 

From  Nazareth  to  Tabor  is  about  seven  miles.  The  road 
we  took  led  us  over  the  hills  on  the  edge  of  the  plain. 
Long  slopes,  up  and  down,  characterised  the  whole  ride, 
much  of  the  way  being  specially  interesting  from  its  un¬ 
usual  wealth  in  trees  and  flowers.  The  carob,  or  locust- 
tree,  the  ilex,  the  hawthorn,  the  sumach,  the  laburnum^ 
and  the  terebinth  grew  in  numbers,  while  we  came  every 
now  and  then  on  orchards  of  grey  olives,  green  fig-trees, 
pomegranates  with  their  red  buds  and  opening  leaves, 
and  almonds  with  their  pink  and  white  blossom.  Under¬ 
foot  there  was  at  many  points  a  wealth  of  beauty :  flags, 
anemones  of  different  colours,  hyacinths,  buttercups  and 
daisies,  wild  cucumbers,  thistles,  yellow  broom,  dandelions, 
wild  mignonette,  and  cyclamens,  in  great  abundance. 
Small  herds  of  black  oxen,  under-sized  and  lean,  were  to 
be  seen  feeding  under  the  care  of  a  shepherd.  All  the 
hollows  were  fertile,  and  looked  very  pleasing,  with  their 
orchards  and  their  patches  of  grain,  or  other  growths.  Even 
the  bare  slopes  of  grey  rock  were  fretted  with  threads  of 
green,  springing  up  in  the  chinks,  though  apart  from  these, 
some  were  barren  enough.  The  feet  of  the  horses,  mules, 
and  asses,  striking  the  same  spots  age  after  age  in  narrow 
parts  of  the  way,  had  worn  deep  holes  in  the  soft  rock. 
A  good  proportion  of  the  soil  was  only  fit  for  rough  pas¬ 
ture  ;  and  in  many  places  stones  lay  thick.  Half  an  hour’s 


278 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


ride  from  Tabor,  numerous  oaks,  not  high,  but  a  pleasing 
contrast  to  the  general  treelessness  of  the  country,  dotted 
the  slopes  as  in  a  park.  A  small  valley,  running  north 
and  south,  separates  the  giant  hill  from  those  around  it; 
and  we  had  the  village  of  Deburieh  on  the  right  as  we 
passed  along  the  low  swell  which  joins  Tabor  to  the 
northern  mountains.  Here  the  oaks  grew  especially 
strong  and  large,  giving  the  landscape  a  delightfully  Eng¬ 
lish  look.  The  steep  height  now  rose  close  before  us, 
thick  with  leafy  scrub  which  left  no  room  for  ascent  but 
by  zigzagging  through  it  in  a  rudely-made  path,  if  it  can 
be  called  a  path.  The  horses  found  little  difficulty  in 
making  their  way,  but  it  took  them  nearly  an  hour  to 
get  to  the  summit.  The  thick  oak-scrub  after  a  time 
grew  thinner,  till  in  some  places  our  track  was  over  bare 
rock ;  but  the  very  steep  western  slope  was  much  more 
barren  than  the  northern  by  which  we  were  going  up,  its 
surface  showing  hardly  anything  but  a  wilderness  of 
Christ-thorn,  scattered  over  the  bare,  weather- bleached 
limestone  of  which  the  whole  mountain  consists.  The 
southern  face  is  nearly  naked.  Seen  from  the  north, 
the  hill  swells  up  like  part  of  a  great  globe ;  from  the 
east  it  is  a  broad  cone,  flattened  on  the  top,  and  from 
the  west  it  looks  like  a  wedge  rising  above  the  neighbour¬ 
ing  hills.  It  is  in  reality  a  long  oval,  with  its  greatest 
width  from  east  to  west,  its  flat  top  rising  nearly  1,500 
feet  above  the  plain  below.1 

The  top  of  the  hill  forms  a  long  and  broad  plateau, 
about  a  quarter  of  an  hour’s  walk  each  way,  sinking 
slightly,  from  nearly  all  sides,  towards  the  centre.  On 
the  north-east  side  stands  a  small,  recently-built,  Greek 
church,  about  thirty  feet  high,  with  a  little  bell-tower. 
Its  court  was  thronged  with  Russian  pilgrims,  and  some 
1  Plain  at  foot,  350  feet  above  tlie  sea  ;  Tabor,  1,813  feet  above  the  sea. 


XL.]  TABOR,  EL-MAHRAKAH,  CARMEL.  279 

dark  and  unclean-looking  liuts  alongside  of  it  supply  cells 
for  a  few  monks ;  the  whole  being  shut  in  by  dry  stone 
walls,  which  enclose  a  considerable  space.  The  ground 
outside  is  a  strange  mixture  of  culture  and  wildness.  An 
old  road,  only  a  few  feet  broad,  with  low  walls  of  loose 
stone  at  the  sides,  stretches  over  a  hollow  filled  with  oaks 
and  other  trees  which  are  dwarfed  to  the  height  of  tall 
shrubs,  and  leads  to  a  door,  iron-railed,  built  into  the  arch 
of  the  gateway  of  an  old  Crusading  fortress,  now  in  utter 
ruin,  with  wild  growths  on  its  top  and  a  wooden  cross  raised 
upon  some  stones  :  a  touching  sight.  The  narrow  road  or 
path,  with  its  deep  walled  sides,  has  doubtless  seen  fierce 
struggles  between  Christian  knight  and  paynim  in  the 
old  days,  but  now  it  leads  to  the  peaceful  loneliness  of  a 
Latin  monastery.  Around,  at  our  feet,  were  sown  patches, 
and  tracts  of  pasture ;  farther  off,  thorns  had  their  own 
way  ;  elsewhere  lay  heaps  of  squared  stones  from  long- 
fallen  ruins,  with  bushes  and  weeds  of  every  size  and  of 
many  kinds  thrusting  themselves  up  among  them.  At 
the  south-east  corner  of  the  table  land  are  the  remains 
of  a  once  huge  fortress,  built  by  the  Crusaders.  Stones 
from  fifteen  to  twenty  feet  long,  carefully  squared,  still 
stood  in  position,  while  on  the  east,  where  the  ground 
outside  slopes,  a  deep  fosse  had  been  dug  as  an  addi¬ 
tional  defence.  The  ruins  are  of  different  ages,  and  show 
that  from  the  earliest  times  this  stronghold  of  nature 
has  been  jealously  guarded.  The  foundations  of  a  thick 
wall  of  larger  stones  can  be  traced  all  round  the  top. 
Walls,  arches,  and  foundations  of  houses  and  other  build¬ 
ings  are  everywhere  visible,  as  though  a  town  had  been 
here  as  well  as  a  fortress. 

I  have  good  reason  to  speak  well  of  the  Franciscans 
of  Mount  Tabor.  The  ride,  added  to  daily  hard  exercise 
for  weeks  before,  had  tired  me  exceedingly,  so  that  I  was 


280 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


thankful  when  we  reached  the  Latin  monastery,  a  large 
building  of  one  high  store}7,  inviting  travellers  by  its 
open  doors.  Only  two  monks  were  visible,  both  young 
Italians,  in  the  brown  cloaks  of  their  Order,  with  a  hood 
on  the  back ;  their  heads  shaved  into  the  tonsure,  a  rope 
girdle  round  the  waist,  and  sandalled  feet.  The  room 
we  entered  was  long  and  lofty,  and  arched  from  all  sides, 
to  save  timber  ;  it  was  furnished  with  two  long  tables, 
reaching  from  end  to  end,  some  chairs,  and,  along  each  of 
the  side  walls,  a  long  red  cotton-covered  couch,  or  divan. 
There  were  some  simple  Scripture  pictures  on  the  walls, 
and  at  one  end  portraits  of  the  last  and  the  present  Pope, 
between  doors  which  opened  into  sleeping-rooms  for 
strangers,  very  nice,  plain,  and  clean,  with  five  beds  in 
each.  At  the  other  end  of  the  room  was  a  very  plain, 
glass-faced,  bookcase-like  cupboard. 

The  young  monk,  seeing  how  tired  I  was,  most  kindly 
insisted  on  getting  refreshment,  and  very  soon  had  part 
of  the  table  covered  with  a  nice  white  cloth,  on  which  he 
set  a  flask  of  wine,  some  coffee,  eggs,  bread,  and  a  salad 
of  fennel,  lettuce,  and  celery.  As  he  was  doing  so,  the 
bell  of  the  Greek  church  began  to  toll :  a  sound  hateful 
exceedingly  to  his  soul,  as  seen  in  the  contemptuous  curl 
of  his  nose,  and  heard  in  some  rather  narrow-minded 
expressions.  So  bitter  and  unlovely  is  sectarian  feeling 
everywhere  !  But  he  was  a  good  soul.  Nothing  would 
content  him  but  that  I  should  lie  down  on  one  of  the 
comfortable  beds,  which  I  very  gladly  did,  and  was  soon 
in  a  sound  sleep,  from  which  my  friends  aroused  me  when 
it  was  time  to  leave. 

The  view  from  Tabor  is  very  fine.  On  the  south  the 
recess  in  the  great  plain,  towards  Jezreel,  lay  at  my  feet, 
with  Jebel  Duhy  soaring  up  in  the  background  in  naked 
bareness  of  rock.  Nearer  the  northern  slope  was  Endor 


XL.]  TABOR,  EL-MAHRAKAH,  CARMEL.  281 

with  its  spring,  its  cave-dwellings,  and  its  tragic  memories 
of  Saul’s  visit,  and  straight  before  me  Nain,  one  of  the 
few  villages  of  Galilee  of  which  the  name  is  given  in 
the  Gospel.  To  the  east  the  eye  ranged  over  a  sea 
of  hills,  undistinguishable  by  shape  from  each  other, 
towards  the  range  which  encloses  the  Sea  of  Galilee, 
which,  however,  lay  hidden  in  its  deep  bed  except  from 
one  point  below  the  summit,  where  a  gap  in  the  hills 
gives  a  glimpse  of  it.  In  the  north  rose  the  mighty 
Jermuk  mountain,  with  the  hill-town  of  Safed  clearly 
visible  to  the  west  of  it.  From  the  same  point  at  which 
the  Lake  of  Galilee  appears  we  could  also  see  the  Mediter¬ 
ranean,  hut  the  Dead  Sea  lies  out  of  sight  from  any  part 
of  Tabor.  To  the  west,  the  ruined  tomb  of  the  Moslem 
saint,  on  the  hill  behind  Nazareth,  seemed  close  at  hand, 
while,  beneath,  Esdraelon  stretched  away  like  a  great 
variegated  carpet  to  the  hills  of  Samaria  and  the  range 
of  Carmel. 

It  was  from  this  plateau  that  Barak  rushed  down  in 
the  midst  of  the  storm  on  Sisera’s  chariots  near  Megiddo 
and  Taanach,  beyond  Jezreel.1  Its  isolation,  its  noble  size, 
and  its  attractive  vegetation,  so  much  richer  than  that  of 
the  hills  around,  made  Tabor  famous  in  the  poetry  of  Israel. 
“  Tabor  and  Hermon,”  sings  the  Psalmist,  “  shall  rejoice 
in  Thy  name;”2  and  Jeremiah,  announcing  the  might 
and  glory  of  the  conqueror  of  Egypt,  cries — “As  I  live, 
saitli  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  surely  as  Tabor  is  among  the 
mountains,  and  as  Carmel  by  the  sea,  so  shall  he  come.”3 
It  appears  to  have  been  inhabited  since  very  early 
times,4  and  its  possession,  as  has  been  already  remarked, 
was  always  held  of  supreme  importance  in  the  wars 
with  which  the  land  was  visited.  Antiochus  the  Great, 


1  See  ante,  p.  261. 

2  Ps.  lxxxix.  12. 


8  Jer.  xlvi.  18. 

4  1  Chron.  vi.  77. 


282 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


and  the  Romans  after  him,  only  seized  it  by  craft ;  and 
Josephus,  who  was  in  command  in  Galilee  at  the  outbreak 
of  the  great  Jewish  war,  caused  it  to  he  newly  fortified, 
the  ruins  around  us  being  in  large  part  the  remains 
of  what  he  built.  The  idea,  which  is  quite  a  mistake, 
that  Tabor  was  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration,  led  to  the 
erection  of  churches  and  cloisters  on  it  as  early  as  the 
rekm  of  Constantine.  Nor  were  the  Crusaders  behind 
the  earlier  Christian  zeal.  Brave  monks  of  Clugny  de¬ 
fended  their  monastery  in  the  year  a.d.  1183  against 
Saladin ;  and  there  were  many  similar  struggles  till  after 
the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century.  At  last,  however, 
everything  perished,  so  that  a  pilgrim  to  the  sacred 
mountain  in  a.d.  1283  saw  nothing  but  ruins  of  palaces, 
cloisters,  and  towers,  amidst  which  lions  and  other  wild 
beasts  had  their  dens ;  and  thus  it  remained  for  ages,  till 
in  late  years  the  Greeks  settled  here  again,  and  built  their 
church ;  the  Latins  soon  following  suit. 

The  slopes  north-east  of  Tabor,  as  you  pass  through 
the  light  oak-groves  near  the  hill  and  beyond  them,  are 
famous  as  pastures.  Bine  trees  shade  luscious  meadows, 
which  are  a  favourite  camping-place  for  Arabs,  whose 
black  tents  are  seldom  wanting  in  the  landscape.  Large 
numbers  of  camels,  stiff  and  ungainly  in  their  movements, 
graze  around.  Herds  of  cattle,  and  flocks  of  sheep  and 
goats,  watched  by  their  shepherds,  are  frequently  to  be 
seen,  the  tents  standing  in  the  midst  of  their  feeding- 
ground.  The  life  of  the  patriarchs  must  have  been  just 
like  that  of  these  wandering  tent-dwellers,  though  it 
rather  shocks  the  imagination  to  picture  those  worthies  so 
simple  in  dress  as  the  swarthy  men  of  to-day,  attired  in 
a  shirt  and  an  “abba,”  with  a  “kefiyeh”  bound  round  the 
head  with  a  camels’-hair  rope ;  the  women  in  only  a  single 
long  blue  cotton  dress,  or  rather  shirt ;  and  the  children 


XL.]  TABOR,  EL-MAHRAKAH,  CARMEL.  283 

of  ten  or  twelve,  of  both  sexes,  wearing  nothing  but  a 
sheepskin,  the  wool  turned  inside. 

We  returned  to  Nazareth  by  a  slightly  different  route, 
but  through  very  similar  landscapes,  entering  the  village 
by  the  road  leading  to  the  Fountain  of  the  Virgin;  de¬ 
lighted  to  be  once  more  in  the  town  of  our  Saviour’s  child¬ 
hood  as  well  as  of  His  riper  life.  To  the  Christian  traveller 
the  hills  around,  especially  the  highest,  crowned  with  its 
Moslem  tomb,  can  never  be  uninteresting.  From  its  top 
Christ  must  often  have  turned  His  eyes  on  Carmel  and 
the  Great  Sea,  on  the  wide  plain  of  Esdraelon,  on  Tabor, 
El-Duhy,  and  Gilboa,  on  the  hills  of  Samaria,  and  on 
the  mountains  of  Gilead,  which  shut  in  the  horizon 
to  the  east.  Behind,  He  must  often  have  looked  down 
into  the  green  sweep  of  the  valley  of  El-Buttauf,  with 
the  peaks  and  rounded  tops  of  the  mountains  of  Upper 
Galilee  beyond  it,  Safed  shining  white  from  its  hill  on  the 
north-east,  and  Jermuk  towering  aloft  near  it.  Far  away 
to  the  north,  Hermon,  snow-crowned,  shone  before  His 
eyes  as  it  did  before  ours.  Westward,  on  its  hill,  stood 
Sepplioris  ;  and  then  come  the  low  hills  which  reach  down 
to  the  plain  of  Acre,  and  hide  the  town  itself.  The  hills 
of  Nazareth  would  be  almost  as  lonely  then  as  now,  for 
they  are  fit  only  for  light  pasture  at  best ;  and  thus  at 
all  hours  He  could  find  solitary  places,  at  His  will,  for 
prayer  and  meditation. 

The  streets  of  Nazareth  are  often  noisy  by  night 
with  the  festivities  of  marriage,  for  the  local  customs 
are  still  in  most  things  the  same  as  they  were  in  the  time 
of  our  Lord.  These  rejoicings  begin  now,  as  then,  with 
sunset,  and  last  several  days.  Before  the  marriage  the 
bridegroom  goes  at  evening  to  the  house  of  a  relation, 
and  while  he  is  there  a  band  of  maidens  lead  the  bride 
to  his  house,  and  then  go  to  bring  the  bridegroom  home. 


284 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


If  any,  however,  are  too  long  in  coming,  he  goes  to  his 
house  without  them,  and  the  door  is  shut.  There  is  a 
final  procession  of  bride  and  bridegroom  on  horseback 
to  the  marriage  ceremony,  with  dancing  and  music  as 
they  advance ;  and  the  return  is  similarly  gladsome.  As 
in  old  times,  the  wife  is  still  bought,  the  lowest  price 
given  being  from  sixteen  to  twenty  pounds,  though  in 
Bible  days  a  Hebrew  could  get  a  wife  for  six  pounds. 
In  exceptional  cases  as  much  as  from  sixty  to  a  hundred 
and  fifty  pounds  is  sometimes  paid  for  a  bride  at  the 
present  day.  Her  father  receives  the  money,  if  he  be  a 
Mahommedan ;  but  among  Christians  it  belongs  to  the 
bride  as  her  dowry,  which  her  husband  cannot  touch,  for 
since  a  woman  cannot  inherit,  she,  with  this  exception, 
brings  nothing  with  her  but  her  clothes  and  ornaments. 
Iiich  fathers,  however,  give  their  daughters  a  wedding- 
portion  of  some  description,  though  not  in  money,  as  Job 
did  when  he  gave  his  daughters  inheritance  among  their 
brethren.1 

Women  in  the  East  are  never  trusted  as  in  the  West, 
and  hence  there  is  no  social  intercourse  between  the  sexes 
before  marriage,  or  between  a  wife  and  any  man  but  her 
husband.  There  is  less,  however,  of  this  seclusion  in 
villages  than  in  such  a  place  as  Nazareth,  and  less  among 
the  Christian  than  among  the  Mahommedan  women  of 
such  a  town.  Polygamy,  being  lawful  among  the  “  true 
believers/’  is  practised  by  them,  as  far  as  means  permit,  and 
often  involves  much  hardship  and  cruelty  to  the  weaker 
sex.  The  wife  who  has  grown  old  with  her  husband,  and 
has  lost  the  beauty  she  had  in  youth,  instead  of  being 
loved  the  more  for  the  long  companionship  in  which  the 
two  have  spent  life  together,  is  often  put  away  to  get  her 
bread  as  she  best  can,  while  her  husband  takes  a  young 

1  Job  xlii.  15. 


XL.1  TABOR,  EL-MAHRAKAH,  CARMEL.  285 

woman  in  her  place.  Still  more  frequently,  the  old  wife 
is  made  the  slave  of  the  new.  How  much  jealousy,  envy, 
rancour,  and  strife  are  thus  created,  especially  when  there 
are  children  of  different  mothers,  can  be  easily  imagined. 
Ho  wonder  that  in  many  cases  the  wives  unite  and  make 
common  cause  against  the  man.  Family  life  cannot 
flourish  in  such  a  state  of  things,  as  we  often  see  in  the 
Bible  narratives  of  royal  households.  There  is,  however, 
one  compensation :  the  affection  between  mother  and 
children  grows  intensely  strong.  In  her  son,  the  wife  and 
mother  finds  the  firm,  steadfast  support  which  she  misses 
from  her  husband.  By  him  she  is  loved  with  the  truest 
and  most  reverential  affection.  It  is  easy,  therefore,  to  see 
how  terrible  a  calamitv  it  is  to  an  Oriental  wife  if  her 
children,  and  especially  her  sons,  die,  or  if  she  he  child¬ 
less.  A  Western  woman  can  hardly  realise  how  great  a 
sorrow  such  misfortunes  are  to  her  Eastern  sister.1 

Across  the  plain,  nearly  west,  lies  the  scene  of 
Elijah’s  sacrifice.  As  we  started  from  Nazareth,  the  vil¬ 
lage  of  Makbiyeh  lay  hidden  in  a  little  fruitful  valley  on 
the  left  of  the  track,  with  palms  in  its  gardens.  Since 
reaching  Jenin,  or  Engannim,  this  most  graceful  tree  had 
reappeared,  for  though  it  is  not  found  in  the  hill- country, 
where  the  comparatively  low  temperature  must  always 
have  prevented  its  growing,  it  abounds  near  Sidon,  Acre, 
Haifa,  and  other  towns.  In  this  valley,  close  to  Naza¬ 
reth,  it  was  evidently  thriving,  and  at  Jenin  it  was  the 
special  feature  of  the  place.  Our  Lord  could  therefore 
see  this  specially  Oriental  tree,  day  by  day,  almost  in 
the  same  landscape  in  which,  afar  off,  shone  the  snows 
of  Hermon.  So  varied  is  the  climate  of  the  Holy 
Land.  It  is  curious  to  notice  the  numerous  stems  of 
the  palm  which  strew  the  shores  of  the  Dead  Sea,  where 

1  Gen.  xxx.  1,  22;  1  Sam.  i.  6. 


286  THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE.  [Chap. 

they  are  brought  down  the  Jordan  by  floods,  or  from  some 
of  the  gorges  on  the  eastern  side.  In  many  places  numbers 
of  them,  and  great  masses  of  palm-leaves,  encrusted  with  a 
coating  of  lime,  deposited  by  the  water  from  the  hills,  lie 
like  huge  pillars,  or  stones,  till,  splitting  off  the  casing,  you 
see  the  tree  or  the  great  fronds  as  perfect  as  when  they 
were  growing,  perhaps  many  ages  ago.  Elsewhere,  over 
the  country,  the  palm  appears  to  have  been  more  plentiful 
long  ago  than  now.  “  The  righteous,”  says  the  Psalmist, 
“  shall  flourish  like  the  palm-tree,” 1  and  even  passing 
strangers  feel  the  aptness  of  the  comparison.  Eor  the 
palm  is  the  tree  of  the  desert,  growing  luxuriantly  not 
only  in  the  rich  soil  of  Egypt,  but  in  the  sandy  borders 
of  Gaza.  It  cannot  live  without  constant  moisture,  and 
hence  its  presence  always  speaks  of  water  near :  an 
emblem  of  the  grace  needed  continually  to  quicken  and 
support  the  Christian  life.  It  rises  high  above  all  the 
trees  around,  as  the  Christian  should  tower  in  spiritual 
stature  above  his  fellows.  “  Upright  as  a  palm  ”  is  a 
proverb,  and  should  be  a  lesson.  It  is  always  growing 
while  it  lives,  and  brings  forth  fruit  even  in  old  a°re  :  and 
it  grows  best  when  its  branches  are  loaded  with  weights, 
as  the  godly  man  does  when  he  bears  the  load  of  this 
world’s  afflictions. 

Beyond  Makbiyeh  you  presently  come  upon  a  lovely 
spring,  Ain  Sufsafeh,  bubbling  out  in  another  valley,  with 
the  usual  accompaniment  of  bright  and  luxuriant  vegeta¬ 
tion.  The  descent  to  the  plain  was  gradual,  with  a  few 
trees  on  the  slopes,  and  quite  a  number  of  springs  bursting 
from  the  foot  of  the  hills  which  here  approach  within 
about  six  miles  of  the  opposite  range  of  Carmel.  Once  on 
the  open  ground,  there  are  no  trees,  an‘d  one  can  easily 
understand  how  the  Shunammite’s  boy,  when  he  had  gone 

1  Ps.  xcii.  12. 


XL.]  TABOR,  EL-MAHRAKAH,  CARMEL.  287 

out  with  liis  father’s  reapers  to  the  fields  in  the  hot  harvest 
weather,  was  struck  down  by  the  sun.1  The  great  sweep 
of  virtually  level  ground  from  Zerin,  or  Jezreel,  to  Carmel, 
was  around  us,  showing  the  whole  distance  over  which  the 
anxious  mother  pressed  so  hurriedly  to  tell  the  prophet 
the  sad  fate  of  her  hoy ;  and  it  was  not  difficult  to  under¬ 
stand  how  Elisha,  standing  on  some  height  of  the  Carmel 
range  opposite,  could  distinguish  her  from  a  great  distance, 
so  as  to  send  Gehazi  to  ask  her  errand.  The  soil  every- 
where  was  evidently  very  rich,  hut  wide  stretches  were  left 
wild,  and  there  was  not  a  single  village  from  one  side  to 
the  other. 

El-Mahrakah,  or  “the  Place  of  Burning,”  has  for  many 
years  been  justly  regarded  as  the  scene  of  Elijah’s  contest 
with  the  priests  of  Baal.  It  is  the  name  given  to  a  place 
near  the  ruined  village  of  Mansurah.  A  long,  steep 
climb,  by  a  slippery  winding  path,  brings  you  over  rocks 
and  through  thickets  to  heaps  of  old  dressed  stones,  close 
to  a  ruined  cistern  of  considerable  size.  The  view  from 
the  spot  is  magnificent.  Standing  on  the  edge  of  the  hill, 
you  look  down  a  depth  of  1,000  feet  to  the  great  plain, 
at  the  edge  of  which,  close  to  the  hills,  flows  the  Kishon, 
now  comparatively  low,  but  in  the  rainy  season  unfordable 
at  this  point.  The  first  place  at  which  it  can  be  crossed 
is  farther  south,  where  it  is  about  twenty  yards  wide ; 
but  even  there  it  reaches  above  the  horse’s  girth.  The 
hewn  stones  around  mark  the  spot  where  the  altar  built 
by  Elijah  had  stood;  but  even  that  was  only  the  re¬ 
construction  of  a  still  more  ancient  altar,  which  Jezebel, 
in  her  fury  against  Jehovah,  had  cast  down.2  It  was  in 
the  vicinity  of  this  sacred  spot,  I  should  suppose,  that 
Elisha  lived  when  away  in  retirement  on  Carmel ; 3  and 
it  was  in  all  probability  to  a  spot  above,  whence  the  Great 
1  2  Kings  iv.  18  ff.  2  1  Kings  xviii.  30.  3  2  Kings  iv.  18  if. 


288 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


Sea  is  seen  swinging  to  and  fro  far  beneath  to  the  west, 
on  the  other  side  of  the  mountains,  that  the  servant  of 
Elijah  came  up  seven  times  to  look  for  the  sign  of  rain, 
which  appeared  at  last  in  the  form  of  the  small  cloud, 
known  in  Palestine,  when  it  is  seen  driving  eastward  over 
the  waters  towards  the  land,  to  be  the  precursor  of  a 
storm. 

Climbing  to  a  crag  300  feet  higher,  we  looked  down 
on  the  altar-stones  which  lie  in  a  little  hollow  on  the 
knoll,  1,000  feet,  as  I  have  said,  above  the  plain.  There, 
on  the  banks  of  the  Kislion,  is  a  flat,  green  knoll,  called 
by  the  natives  Tell-el-Cassis,  “  the  Mound  of  the  Priests.” 
The  place  of  sacrifice,  thus  overlooking  the  plain,  is  shut 
in  on  the  north  by  woody  cliffs,  which,  with  the  slopes 
around,  seem  to  form  a  natural  amphitheatre  :  the  very 
spot  for  the  great  scene  transacted  in  it.  It  is  at  the 
extreme  eastern  point  of  the  Carmel  hills,  about  thirteen 
miles  nearly  south  from  the  promontory  which  dips  its 
foot  in  the  sea,  and  closes  the  range  to  the  north.  The 
last  view  of  the  ocean  is  to  be  had  from  the  top  of  the 
crag  above  ;  and  from  this  point  also  you  have  the  first 
view  of  the  great  plain,  which  north  of  this  is  narrowed 
by  the  close  approach  of  the  hills  of  Galilee.  The  glades 
of  forest  have  already  been  left  behind  on  the  north, 
and  the  bareness  of  ordinary  hill  scenery  in  Palestine  has 
begun ;  but  there  are  still  some  fine  trees  in  the  amphi¬ 
theatre,  overhanging  an  ancient  fountain,  with  a  square 
stone-built  reservoir  about  eight  feet  deep  beside  it,  traces 
still  remaining  of  the  steps  by  which  the  water  was 
reached  when  low.  This  spring  never  dries  up,  as  is 
shown  by  the  presence  of  living  fresh- water  molluscs, 
which  would  die  if  water  were  at  any  time  to  fail  them. 
One  can  thus  understand  how,  although  drought  had 
scorched  the  land  for  three  years,  and  the  ICishon,  after 


XL.] 


TABOR,  EL-MAHRAKAH,  CARMEL. 


289 


shrinking  to  a  string  of  pools,  had  dried  np  altogether, 
there  was  still  water  for  the  sacrifice  of  Elijah,  though 
he  needed  so  much.  The  whole  of  the  moisture  remain¬ 
ing  in  the  depths  of  Carmel  poured  its  wealth  into  this 
last  treasure-house.  On  one  side,  in  the  wide  hollow 
sweep  in  which  this  spring  lies,  were  ranged  Ahab  and 
the  four  hundred  and  fifty  prophets  of  Baal  and  Astarte ; 
on  the  other  stood  the  one  grand  figure  of  the  prophet 
of  Jehovah,  in  his  sheepskin  mantle,  with  his  long  hair 
streaming  in  the  wind.  Far  to  the  south-east,  Jezreel,  witli 
the  king’s  palace  and  Jezebel’s  temple,  were  full  in  sight ; 
and  beneath,  in  ordinary  times,  were  the  winding  links  of 
the  Kishon,  slowly  gliding  on  to  the  narrow  pass,  over¬ 
hung  with  oleanders,  through  which  it  enters  the  plain  of 
Acre  on  its  way  to  the  sea.  The  contest  lasted  from 
morning  till  noon,  and  from  noon  till  the  time  of  the 
evening  sacrifice.  In  vain  did  the  priests  of  Baal  circle 
round  their  altar  in  sacred  dances,  ever  more  violent,  till 
at  last,  like  some  of  the  modern  dervishes,  in  their  in¬ 
tense  earnestness  they  cut  themselves  with  knives.  Elijah 
could  taunt  and  mock  them  at  his  will,  for  Baal  did  not 
answer.  Then  came  the  miracle  of  the  burning  of  the 
prophet’s  sacrifice,  and  the  final  catastrophe,  when  the 
false  prophets,  at  the  command  of  Elijah,  were  taken  down 
the  hill  to  the  knoll  over  Kishon,  and  there  put  to  death, 
their  bodies  being  no  doubt  thrown  into  the  river- bed, 
that  the  flood,  soon  to  come,  might  hear  them  away  to  the 
sea  without  burial,  the  greatest  indignity  that  in  ancient 
times  could  he  offered  to  the  dead. 

Bemounting  the  hill  to  a  sacrificial  feast — the  sign 
of  reconciliation  to  the  land  on  the  part  of  Jehovah,  now 
that  He  had  been  vindicated  before  all — the  king  and 
Elijah  ate  together  from  the  remains  of  the  offering. 
Then,  we  are  told,  the  prophet  climbed  to  “  the  top  of 
t 


2C0 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


the  mountain,”  and  remained  long  in  prayer,  his  face 
bowed  to  the  earth,  while  his  servant,  after  going  seven 
times  to  a  point  from  which  the  sea  was  visible,  at  last 
announced  that  a  cloud  was  rising  in  the  far  west — the 
first  of  the  kind  that  had  been  seen  for  years.  It  was 
already  twilight,  and  the  prophet  knew  the  suddenness 
with  which  the  fierce  wind  would  bear  on  the  storm. 
Before  long  the  whole  heavens  were  overcast,  and  the 
wind  gave  the  sound  of  abundance  of  rain.  It  was  im¬ 
perative  that  the  king  should  hurry  down,  and,  crossing 
the  Kishon,  gain  his  chariot  and  drive  off  for  Jezreel, 
before  the  rain  turned  the  wide  soft  plain  into  a  muddy 
swamp.  This  done,  “  the  hand  of  the  Lord  was  on 
Elijah.”  Tightening  his  girdle  round  him,  and  running 
ahead  of  the  galloping  horses  as  they  darted  off,  he  kept 
his  place  before  them  with  the  amazing  strength  ap¬ 
parently  peculiar  to  Arabs  and  Indians,  till  they  and  he 
together  reached  the  entrance  of  Jezreel,  sixteen  or  seven¬ 
teen  miles  away. 

On  the  Glalilee  side  of  the  narrow  pass  between  the 
plain  of  Acre  and  Esdraelon  is  the  village  of  Sheikh 
Abreik,  standing  on  a  low  hill,  on  the  southern  edge  of  a 
large  tract  of  rolling  land,  covered  with  oak-scrub  and 
fringed  with  trees  of  larger  growth.  There  are  only  some 
miserable  hovels  in  the  village,  with  starved  dogs  in  the 
lane  and  on  the  roofs,  and  bees  murmuring  about  their 
clay  hives.  The  Kishon  opposite  Sheikh  Abreik  Hows  in 
a  winding  channel  thickly  overshadowed  with  oleanders, 
with  a  muddy  ford  in  spring  and  almost  a  dry  bed  in 
summer,  but  filled  after  rain  with  a  stream.  The  caravan- 
road  to  Haifa  runs  along  the  foot  of  the  hills,  and  was 
alive  with  long  strings  of  camels,  moving  towards  or  from 
the  port,  one  beast  stalking  vdth  wooden  stiffness  behind 
another,  each  tied  to  the  one  before,  the  leader  of  the 


XL.] 


TABOR,  EL-MAHRAKAH,  CARMEL. 


291 


caravan  sitting  on  an  ass  in  front,  contentedly  smoking 
his  long  wooden  pipe  as  the  train  behind  moved  after 
him  at  hardly  three  miles  an  hour.  Going  north  from 
Malirakah,  the  hills  and  valleys  of  Carmel  are  rich  with 
trees  which  spread  just  as  they  please,  with  no  interrup¬ 
tion  from  human  industry.  The  contrast  between  this 
wild  “  garden  of  God  ”  and  the  hills  of  Palestine  elsewhere 
is  very  great.  Here,  vegetation  grows  in  rich  luxuriance  : 
everywhere  else  there  is  little  hut  thorns,  thin  pasture,  or 
weathered  limestone,  hare  and  forbidding — for  even  the 
hills  of  Samaria  are  fruitful  only  on  their  slopes. 

Carmel  has  enjoyed  this  pre-eminence  among  the  moun¬ 
tains  of  the  Holy  Land  from  the  earliest  ages.  To  the 
sacred  writers  it  was  the  emblem  of  the  richest  fertility. 
“  The  excellency  of  Carmel  5,1  is  Isaiah’s  ideal  of  the  glory 
of  any  land.  The  highest  fancy  of  the  inditer  of  Canticles 
cannot  compliment  his  beloved  more  than  by  assuring  her, 
“Thine  head  upoa  thee  is  like  Carmel.”1  2  That  this 
range  should  wither  is  the  prophet’s  darkest  image  of 
desolation.3  In  the  heat  of  summer,  when  the  whole 
landscape,  far  and  near,  changes  to  the  yellow  of  death, 
Carmel  still  raises  aloft  its  unfading  wealth  of  green. 
Por  its  forests  to  droop  and  its  beauty  to  fade  was  the 
sign  to  the  prophets  of  the  sternest  visitation  of  God.4 
To  Micah  its  pastures  were  the  emblem  of  the  blessedness 
which  God  would  bestow  upon  His  people.  “  Feed  Thy 
people,”  says  he,  “  with  Thy  rod,  the  flock  of  Thine  herit¬ 
age,  which  dwell  solitarily,  in  the  forest  in  the  midst  of 
Carmel.”  5  It  is  no  wonder  that  an  altar  to  Jehovah  was 
early  raised  on  this  mountain,  or  that  Elisha  made  it  his 
chosen  retreat,6  for  even  the  heathen  populations  regarded 

1  Isa.  xxxv.  2.  4  Amos.  i.  2  ;  ]STah.  i.  4. 

2  Cant.  vii.  5.  6  Micali  vii.  14. 

3  Isa.  xxxiii.  9.  6  1  Kings  xviii.  30,  32;  2  Kings  ii.  25  ;  iv.  25. 


292 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap.  XL. 


it  as  sacred.  “  Between  Syria  and  Judaea,”  says  Tacitus^ 
“  is  Carmel — the  name  given  to  a  mountain  and  to  a  god  ; 
yet  there  is  no  image  to  the  god  nor  any  temple,  but,  as 
former  ages  have  prescribed,  only  an  altar  and  worship. 
Vespasian  sacrificed  there  when  revolving  in  his  mind  the 
yet  secret  hope  of  empire.”1 


1  Tac.  Hist.,  ii.  73. 


CHAPTER  XLL 


HAIFA  AND  ACRE. 

On  the  way  to  Haifa  charming  valleys  lie  behind  the 
hills  which  one  sees  from  Esdraelon  :  some  of  them  dark¬ 
ened  by  the  black  tents  of  Arabs  who  roam  thither  to 
pasture  their  flocks.  Wooded  hills,  pasture,  and  tilled 
land  alternate  ;  the  last  in  small  quantity.  In  the  rich 
hollows  thousands  of  people  could  hide  themselves  from 
foes  in  the  plain,  who  would  not  suspect  the  existence  of 
such  asylums  if  they  did  not  penetrate  the  upper  hills.  One 
can  understand,  therefore,  how  Jehovah  could  say,  through 
Amos,  of  the  idolaters  of  the  Ten  Tribes,  “  Though  they 
hide  themselves  on  the  top  of  Carmel,  I  will  search  and 
take  them  out  thence.” 1  Olive -groves  occur  here  and 
there,  and  charcoal-burners  find  abundant  material  for 
their  craft.  The  Druse  village  of  Esfia  stands  on  the  top 
of  the  highest  point  of  the  Carmel  range,  at  an  altitude 
of  over  1,700  feet  from  the  sea,  above  the  rich  vege¬ 
tation  of  the  valleys,  and  amidst  thorny  growths  and 
sheets  of  rock  such  as  are  common  in  other  mountainous 
districts.  The  villagers,  or  their  fathers,  were  implicated 
in  the  massacre  of  Christians  in  Lebanon  nearly  fifty 
years  ago,  and  sought  a  home  on  this  spot,  beyond 
the  reach  of  the  local  government.  Active  and  indus¬ 
trious,  they  have  large  herds  of  cattle  and  asses,  and 
great  flocks  of  sheep  and  goats.  From  Esfia  northwards, 


1  Amos  ix.  3 


294 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


towards  tlie  sea,  the  path  lay  along  a  high  table-land, 
unbroken  by  valleys,  and  covered  with  rough  growths, 
which  after  a  time  give  place  to  great  numbers  of  clumps 
of  firs.  It  must  have  been  from  his  having  passed 
through  some  such  place  that  Isaiah  could  use  the  image 
he  employs  of  the  fear  into  which  Ahaz  fell  on  hearing 
of  an  alliance  against  him  by  the  Ten  Tribes  and  Syria — • 
“  his  heart  was  moved,  and  the  heart  of  his  people,  as  the 
trees  of  the  wood  are  moved  with  the  wind”1 — for  the 
rustle  of  the  branches  in  the  soft  air  is  a  sound  very 
seldom  heard  elsewhere  in  Palestine.  Rich  slopes  appeared 
again  after  a  time,  with  flocks  of  sheep  and  goats,  tended 
in  some  cases  by  girls  with  sunburnt  faces.  Wild  beasts 
— liy senas,  leopards,  wild  cats,  and  other  creatures  equally 
fierce — are  found  in  this  district,  hut  we  saw  none.  The 
hills  are  less  fertile  towards  the  west,  where  the  bare 
stony  soil  offers  support  to  nothing  better  than  thorns 
and  brambles,  though  occasionally  rich  valleys  were  to 
he  seen.  Population,  it  may  be  said,  there  is  none, 
though  frequent  ruins  show  that  it  has  been  very  different 
in  former  ages. 

The  high  dome  of  the  Carmelite  monastery,  on  the 
extreme  north-west  point  of  the  range,  overlooking  the 
sea,  is  a  landmark  from  great  distances.  The  build¬ 
ing  is  extensive  and  imposing,  standing  grandly  at  a 
height  of  more  than  500  feet  above  the  waves  which 
break  continually  underneath.  The  inside  of  the  clois¬ 
ter  is  in  keeping  with  its  stately  exterior :  high,  airy, 
wide  passages;  broad,  slowly -ascending  stairs;  simple 
hut  tastefully  fitted-up  chambers,  with  perfect  cleanliness 
everywhere,  are  its  characteristics.  Besides  the  church, 
richly  ornamented,  there  is  a  library,  with  much  else ; 
and  the  whole  establishment  is  bright  and  new,  having 

1  Isa.  yii.  2. 


XLI.] 


HAIFA  A1STD  ACRE. 


295 


been  put  into  perfect  repair  in  recent  years  by  tbe  French 
Government. 

The  path  from  this  lofty  retreat  to  Haifa  descends 
gently,  crossing  at  the  bottom  a  rich  plain,  on  which  a 
German  colony  has  settled.  Haifa  itself  lies  at  the 
south  angle  of  the  Bay  of  Acre,  with  only  a  narrow  strip 
between  it  and  the  towering  wall  of  Carmel.  Here  and 
there  a  palm  rises,  and  there  are  many  olives  and  fruit- 
trees  of  all  kinds,  with  numerous  gardens.  Bussia,  ever 
mindful  of  her  pilgrims,  has  built  a  large  hospice  for 
them,  and  there  is  also  a  fine  Boman  Catholic  school. 
Steamers  call  at  this  port,  but  the  harbour  has  long  ago 
been  silted  up  by  sand,  and  by  the  mud  brought  from  the 
mouths  of  the  Nile.  Hence,  only  boats  can  come  near 
the  land,  and  even  from  them  passengers  have  to  be  carried 
cn  the  backs  of  the  boatmen  for  more  than  fifty  paces. 
The  streets  of  the  town  are  filthy  and  wretched  beyond 
description. 

The  road  to  Acre  is  along  the  sea-sliore,  close  to  the 
restless  waters  which  run  up  the  smooth  beach  in  cease¬ 
less  play.  A  broad  belt  of  yellow  sand  separates  the  blue 
of  the  sea  from  the  green  of  the  plain,  a  sky  azure  as  the 
ocean  stretching  over  land  and  water  alike.  Timbers 
of  wrecks  lie  on  the  sand  or  stick  up  out  of  it,  showing 
how  dangerous  the  coast  must  be  in  a  gale  from  the 
west.  About  two  miles  from  Haifa  the  Kishon  enters 
the  sea — that  is,  when  it  can,  for  a  ground  current  runs 
strongly  against  the  river-mouth,  raising  a  bar  which 
chokes  the  stream  so  quickly  that  in  very  dry  seasons  no 
visible  channel  is  left,  and  what  water  there  is  filters 
through  the  sands.  In  ordinary  times,  however,  there  is 
a  mouth,  with  a  bar  across  it  a  little  way  out  in  the 
sea,  the  water  reaching  to  a  horse’s  knees,  but  after 
the  rains  it  is  somewhat  deeper  even  at  this  place ;  and 


296 


THE  HOLY  LAND  A  HD  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


for  some  miles  inland  tlie  depth  increases  to  from  six 
to  fourteen  feet. 

The  plain  of  Acre  was  in  the  territory  of  Asher, 
though  Acre  itself  was  left  to  the  Phoenicians,  for  the 
Jew  hated  the  sea,  and  his  love  of  commerce  is  a  quality 
developed  late  in  his  history.  On  such  a  sweep  of  rich 
land  Asher  indeed  “  dipped  his  foot  in  oil,”  and  could  say 
that  “  his  bread  was  fat,  and  that  his  land  yielded  royal 
dainties.”1  As  we  neared  the  town,  the  river  Bolus,  about 
two  feet  deep,  and  broader  than  the  Kishon,  flowed  into 
the  sea.  Here  great  fisheries  for  the  purple-dye  sea-snail 
were  established,  and  here  the  creature  is  still  to  be 
found.  It  is  also  said  that  glass  was  discovered  at  the 
Belus  by  the  accidental  vitrification  of  sand  under  the  heat 
of  a  fire.  Can  “  the  treasures  hid  in  the  sands,”  of  which 
Moses  speaks,  refer  to  this?2  There  is  only  one  gate  into 
Acre,  close  to  the  sea-shore.  Passing  through  this  and 
traversing  a  few  streets,  we  reach  the  bazaar,  which  is 
partly  covered  with  an  awning  of  mats,  and  partly  with 
stone  arches,  for  the  sake  of  coolness.  The  ramparts  are 
double  on  the  land  side,  and  though  in  parts  shattered, 
are  on  the  whole  in  tolerably  good  condition,  the  moat 
outside  still  showing  how  strong  a  place  it  must  once  have 
been.  Two  hundred  and  thirty  cannon,  a  number  of  them 
captured  by  Sir  Sidney  Smith  when  on  their  way  to 
Napoleon’s  army,  look  out  in  every  direction  from  the 
port-holes,  but  all  are  old  and  badly  mounted.  The  port 
in  which  fleets  lay  in  the  time  of  the  Crusades  is  now 
little  more  than  a  yard  and  a  half  deep  where  there  is 
most  water,  so  that  only  small  boats  can  enter.  The 
mosque  was  sadly  knocked  about  at  the  last  bombardment, 
in  1840,  but  has  since  been  repaired,  after  a  fashion.  It 
stands  in  a  great  open  court,  from  which  rise  palms, 
1  Deut.  xxxiii.  24  ;  Gen.  xlix.  20.  2  Deut.  xxxiii.  19. 


XLI.] 


HAIFA  AND  ACRE. 


297 


cypresses,  and  other  trees,  and  is  surrounded  witli  vaulted 
galleries,  containing  chambers  for  pilgrims  and  others, 
and  supported  by  pillars  which  were  brought  from  the 
ruins  of  Tyre  and  Caesarea.  Close  to  the  monastery 
of  the  -Franciscans  is  a  great  khan,  the  wide  court  of 
which  is  surrounded  by  a  row  of  two-storey  houses,  with 
a  strong  gate,  which  can  be  closed  upon  occasion. 

Acre  is  a  miserable  town,  containing  hardly  any  an¬ 
tiquities  ;  hut  it  is  very  ancient,  for  it  is  spoken  of  in 
Judges,  where  we  are  told  that  in  Joshua’s  time  the 
Israelites,  never  skilled  in  siege- work,  found  it  too  strong 
for  them  to  take.1  In  the  Persian  era  its  fortified  haven 
made  it  an  important  basis  of  operations  against  Egypt, 
from  a  Greek  ruler  of  which,  at  a  later  date,  it  took  the 
name  of  Ptolemais,  mentioned  in  the  chronicles  of  the 
Maccabees.2  But  to  Christians  it  is  most  famous  as  the 
place  at  which  St.  Paul  landed  when  he  went  up  to  Jeru¬ 
salem  for  the  last  time,  saluting  the  brethren  then  in  the 
town,  and  staying  with  them  a  day.3  In  the  time  of  the 
Crusaders,  Acre  flourished,  though  less  when  they  first 
held  it  for  eighty  years,  before  it  was  wrested  from  them 
by  Saladin  in  1189,  than  after  its  recapture,  as  the  prize 
of  a  two  years’  siege,  by  Cceur  de  Lion  in  1191.  From 
that  date  it  remained  for  exactly  a  hundred  years  the 
centre  of  Christian  power  in  the  Holy  Land.  The  court 
of  the  kings,  and  the  seat  of  the  Patriarchate,  were  here ; 
and  by  their  names  the  streets  indicated  that  men  of  many 
nationalities  came  to  this  great  mart,  for  they  were  called 
after  Pisa,  Pome,  Genoa,  Venice,  Florence,  and  Paris. 
The  story  of  its  splendour  is  told  in  the  Roman  chronicles 
of  the  Crusades,  but  it  fell  in  1291  before  the  attack 
of  Sultan  Aslirab,  and  was  burned  to  the  ground.  N or 
was  any  attempt  made  to  rebuild  it  till  a  little  over  a 
1  J'utlg.  i.  31.  2  1  Macc.  v.  15  ;  x.  1  ;  xii.  45.  3  Acts  xxi.  7. 


298 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


hundred  years  ago,  so  that  it  is  essentially  a  modern  town. 
The  population  is  about  8,000,  of  whom  three-fourths  are 
Maliommedans ;  and  the  staple  business  is  the  exportation 
of  corn  brought  from  the  Hauran,  of  which  from  200  to 
300  ship-loads  are  sent  away  each  year. 

The  importance  of  this  trade  may  he  realised  almost 
any  morning  by  watching  the  long  trains  of  camels  laden 
with  grain  waiting  for  entrance  into  the  town,  their 
number  requiring  them  to  take  their  turn.  The  pro¬ 
phet’s  picture  of  the  prosperity  of  Judah  under  the  Mes¬ 
siah — “  The  multitude  of  camels  shall  cover  thee,  the 
dromedaries  of  Midian  and  Ephah ;  all  they  from  Sheba 
shall  come  ” 1 — must  have  been  suggested  by  a  sight  like 
that  now  presented  at  the  gates  of  Acre.  The  camels  are 
in  hundreds,  and  the  caravans  seem  endless.  All  these 
had  passed  over  the  road  behind  Nazareth,  and  must  have 
been  seen,  in  part,  by  any  villager  who  chanced  to  be  in 
that  direction  ;  so  that  contact  with  the  great  outer  world, 
enlarging  the  sympathies  and  expanding  the  ideas  of  the 
otherwise  secluded  hill-population,  must  be  constant.  So 
it  was  in  an  even  greater  degree  in  the  time  of  our  Lord, 
for  the  life  of  Palestine  was  then  far  more  vigorous  than 
it  is  now ;  and  thus  the  Son  of  Mary,  although  living  in 
the  quiet  town  behind  the  plain,  must  have  been  familiar 
with  scenes  which  spoke  of  a  greater  world  than  the  Jewish, 
and  of  other  races  of  men,  with  equal  claim  to  His  gracious 
pity.  The  cemetery  lies  to  the  east  of  the  town,  at  the 
side  of  the  road,  like  all  other  Mahommedan  burial- 
grounds  in  the  irregularity  of  the  unshapely,  plastered 
mounds  with  which  it  is  sown.  There  is  no  such  thing 
as  a  row  of  graves,  or  a  path  through  them.  The  dead 
are  put  into  any  vacant  spot,  without  an  idea  of  order, 
and  the  ground  is  then  left  open  to  man  and  beast.  Yet 

1  Isa.  lx.  6. 


XLI.] 


HAIFA  AND  ACRE. 


299 


the  heart  is  no  less  tender  in  the  East  than  in  the  West. 
When  we  were  there,  women  were  sitting  at  the  graves  of 
their  loved  ones  as  Mary  did  in  days  long  past.1 

As  one  goes  east  the  landscape  rises  and  falls  in 
gentle  swellings,  from  which  glimpses  of  the  town  and 
sea  once  and  again  offer  themselves.  Long  trains  of 
camels  returning  home,  after  delivering  their  loads, 
stalked  solemnly  on  in  single  file,  or  two  abreast ;  the 
empty  grain -bags  laid  across  their  humps.  The  cord 
with  which  these  bags  are  sewn  is  more  like  rope  than 
thread,  and  indeed  is  often  used  as  such,  so  that  the 
needle  employed  must  he  something  prodigious.  Was  it 
in  reference  to  this  that  the  proverb  arose  about  the  im¬ 
possibility  of  a  camel  going  through  the  eye  of  a  needle  ?  2 
It  is  at  least  certain  that  the  explanation  which  supposes 
the  needle’s  eye  to  be  a  name  given  to  a  small  side  pass¬ 
age  at  city  gates  is  not  trustworthy,  as  there  are  no 
such  small  side  arches  in  the  East. 


1  J ohn  xi.  31. 


2  Mark  x.  25. 


CHAPTER  XLH. 


EL-BUTTAUF,  CANA,  THE  MOUNT  OF  BEATITUDES. 

One  old  Roman  road  from  Acre  ran  south-east  over  the 
hills,  past  Sepphoris,  to  the  ford  of  the  Jordan,  immediately 
south  of  the  Lake  of  Gralilee.  Another  led  to  Nazareth, 
and  then  turned  south  to  Esdraelon.  Nothing,  indeed,  is 
more  astonishing  than  the  close  network  of  roads  which 
covered  the  whole  country  once,  under  the  Romans,  as 
seen  in  the  great  map  of  Palestine  published  by  the  Pales¬ 
tine  Survey.  Instead  of  such  a  well-maintained  and  ad¬ 
mirable  system  of  intercommunication  in  every  direction 
as  obtained  in  the  days  of  our  Lord,  only  paths  over  the 
plains,  and  rude,  frightful  tracks  up  the  valleys  are  to  be 
seen  to-day.  It  is,  in  fact,  impossible  to  conceive  a 
country  in  which  travelling  could  be  more  laborious  :  a 
proof  of  this  being  the  fact  I  have  already  mentioned, 
that  distance  is  measured  by  the  rate  at  which  a  horse 
or  other  animal  ivalfcs  in  an  hour  :  three  miles,  at  most, 
being  reckoned  an  hour’s  journey.  East  of  Acre  there 
are  many  well-travelled  paths  over  the  plain,  which  is 
about  seven  miles  broad,  to  Damun,  the  first  village  at 
the  foot  of  the  hills  beyond.  To  supply  water  for  the 
numerous  caravans,  numbers  of  wells  have  been  dug, 
some  of  them  very  deep.  Over  many  of  the  shafts 
rise  stone  domes,  with  a  square  tank  in  front,  and  a 
trough  into  which  water  Hows.  Women  were  busy  at 
some  of  these,  washing  their  linen  by  beating  it  with  a 


Chap.  XLIL] 


EL-BUTTAUF,  CANA,  &c. 


301 


wooden  club:  not,  I  should  think,  a  great  help  to  its  dura¬ 
bility.  The  land,  like  that  of  Esdraelon,  is  by  no  means 
generally  tilled,  but  in  some  places,  strange  to  say,  even 
the  roads  had  been  ploughed  up,  so  that  when  the  sower 
goes  forth  some  of  his  seed  must  needs  fall  on  the  way- 
side  and  be  trodden  under  foot.1 

Damun,  though  itself  a  poor  place,  is  nicely  situated 
among  groves  of  olives.  About  two  miles  south-east  of 
it  lies  a  village  the  name  of  which,  Kabul,  is  interesting 
from  its  being  thought  to  recall  an  incident  in  the  history 
of  Solomon’s  reign.  Hiram  of  Tyre  had  most  generously 
provided  cedar  and  cypress  wood  for  the  Temple  on 
Mount  Moriah  and  the  palace  on  Zion,  as  well  as  a  large 
quantity  of  gold  for  ornamenting  both,  and  for  all  this 
the  shrewd,  mean-spirited  Jew  made  over  to  him  the  very 
shabby  return  of  “twenty  cities  in  the  land  of  Galilee,”  2 
which,  it  is  to  be  presumed,  were  peopled  mostly  by  the 
heathen  Canaanites,  and  were  of  very  little  value  to 
Solomon.  They  were  not  in  this  district,  but  seem  to 
have  lain  in  the  northern  part  of  the  territory  of  Naphtali, 
on  the  boundaries  of  Tyre,  and  owed  the  name  Kabul, 
given  by  Hiram  to  them  as  a  whole,  to  their  worthless¬ 
ness  in  his  eyes.  Indeed,  the  Second  Book  of  Chronicles 
seems  to  show  that  Hiram  gave  them  back  again  to  their 
donor,3  refusing  to  accept  them. 

The  country  to  the  south  of  Kabul  is  very  barren 
on  both  sides  of  the  valleys  into  which  it  is  broken 
up,  the  hills  being  mostly  a  bare  confusion  of  rocks, 
grown  over  with  scrub  and  thorns,  though  here  and  there 
offering  sparse  feeding  for  sheep  or  goats.  As  a  whole 
this  upland  region  is  very  poor.  The  first  patches  of 
grain  that  we  saw  after  leaving  Kabul  were  in  the  neigh¬ 
bourhood  of  Kankab,  four  miles  to  the  south-east.  This 

1  Matt.  xiii.  4 ;  Luke  viii.  5.  2  1  Kings  ix.  11.  3  2  Oliron.  viii.  2. 


302  THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE.  [Chap. 

hamlet  lies  at  the  west  end  of  a  narrow  valley  in  which 
a  fine  spring  has  created  a  lie  tie  oasis  of  fertility.  Walls 
of  rock  and  vigorous  scrub  mark  the  steep  slopes,  the 
luxuriant  green  rising  on  the  east  side  to  the  dignity 
of  trees,  while  a  carpet  of  grass  fringes  the  course  of 
the  water.  Two  miles  over  the  hills  to  the  east  is  Tell 
Jefat,  where  once  stood  the  fortress  of  Jotapata,  which 
Josephus,  who  was  a  Jewish  general  as  well  as  a  his¬ 
torian,  long  defended  against  Yespasian,  capitulating  at 
last  for  want  of  water.  The  ruins  of  a  castle  still  stand 
on  the  high,  precipitous  hill  which  rises  500  or  600  feet 
above  the  valley.  It  is  burrowed  with  cisterns  through¬ 
out,  and  the  traces  of  a  wall  round  the  summit  are 
yet  visible.  Little  more  than  a  mile  south-east,  over 
rough  hills,  you  reach  a  ruined  site  still  known  by  the 
native  Christians  as  “  Cana  of  Galilee,”  possibly  the  spot 
where  the  marriage  took  place  recorded  by  St.  John.1 
Here  is  the  wreck  of  a  large  village,  with  the  remains  of 
a  wall  of  large  stones  which  once  enclosed  it ;  but  all  is 
now  silent  and  desolate.  A  mile  further  south,  the  broad 
plain  of  El-Buttauf  came  in  sight — a  spacious  green  sea, 
here  sinking  into  gentle  hollows,  there  rising  in  soft 
swells ;  the  ruined  dome  of  the  Maliommedan  tomb 
on  the  hill- top  behind  Nazareth  being  visible  on  the 
south. 

El-Buttauf  is  dependent  for  its  fertility  on  the  rains 
which  in  their  season  pour  down  from  the  hills  that 
surround  it  on  all  sides,  and  turn  its  eastern  end  for 
part  of  the  year  into  a  marsh.  If  the  heavens  be  unpro- 
pitious,  the  soil  becomes  hard  as  a  stone,  and  there  is  no 
harvest.  Joel  describes  such  a  state  of  things  in  his  day.3 
The  harvest  perished,  the  vine  withered,  the  fig  wilted,  and 
all  the  trees  of  the  field  with  it ;  the  seed  shrivelled  below 


1  John  ii.  1 — 11. 


2  Jcel  i.  10—17. 


XLIL] 


EL-BUTTAUF,  CANA,  &c. 


303 


the  clods,  the  threshing-floors  were  empty,  the  barns  were 
broken  down,  for  the  corn  had  come  to  nothing.  Descend¬ 
ing  from  the  hills  where  the  villages  are  hid  in  security, 
the  sower  literally  cc  goes  forth  to  sow,5’1  sometimes  miles 
from  liis  home,  not  seldom  with  his  gun  slung  over  his 
back,  to  protect  himself  against  Arabs.  The  yield  of  a 
hundred-fold  spoken  of  by  our  Lord  in  the  parable  is 
never  secured  from  wheat  or  barley,  though  some  other 
kinds  of  grain,  such  as  maize,  are  said  to  yield  even  more. 
In  the  best  years  the  yield  of  wheat  or  barley  is  only 
about  thirty-fold.  Can  it  be  that  the  same  mode  of 
reckoning  crops  was  in  use  in  our  Master’s  time  as  prevails 
now?  Perhaps  the  explanation  is  to  be  found  in  the 
assumption  that  a  third  of  the  crop  will  be  eaten  by  the 
birds,  and  a  second  third  by  mice  and  insects,  so  that  if 
thirty -three-fold  be  secured  by  the  cultivator  he  tells  you 
that  his  land  has  produced  a  hundred-fold. 

The  road  from  Nazareth  to  Tiberias,  which  was  left 
by  the  Bomans  in  good  condition  ages  ago,  but  for  which 
time  has  done  its  worst  since,  runs  to  the  north-east, 
round  the  long  bare  hills,  which  here  and  there  are 
brightened  by  olives  and  fig-trees.  Seffurieh,  the  an¬ 
cient  Sepphoris,  stands  on  a  hill  to  the  left,  and  deserves 
a  visit  as  the  capital  of  Galilee  before  Herod  Antipas 
transferred  that  honour  to  his  newly-built  city,  Tiberias. 
Several  broad  caravan-tracks  leading  to  the  Jordan  have 
to  be  crossed  on  the  way.  Clusters  of  figs  and  olives 
brighten  the  bare  hillsides.  Asses  with  great  loads  of  grass 
were  creeping  up  the  slope,  occasionally  showing  only  one 
ear,  for  a  barbarous  custom  allows  a  peasant  to  cut  off  the 
ear  of  any  ass  he  finds  trespassing  on  his  grain-patch. 
Seffurieh  is  a  large  and  prosperous  village,  though  the 
latter  expression  must  not  be  understood  in  a  Western 

1  Matt.  xiii.  3. 


304 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


sense,  for  most  of  tlie  houses  are  very  wretched.  It 
stands  on  the  top  of  a  hill  nearly  800  feet  above  the 
sea,  and  several  hundred  feet  above  the  valleys  and 
plain.  The  houses,  which  lie  in  crescent  shape  upon 
the  southern  slope,  are  low,  and  are  built  of  mud  and 
stone,  with  flat  mud  roofs  ;  and  as  there  is  no  spring, 
water  has  to  be  obtained  from  cisterns  and  a  rain-pool. 
Fine  olive-trees  grow  around,  though  the  nearest  spring 
is  about  a  mile  off,  to  the  south.  East  of  the  hill  are 
some  rock-cut  tombs  of  an  unusual  form,  being  simply 
shallow  graves,  cut  in  the  surface,  and  covered  with 
stone  lids.  Remains  of  an  aqueduct  show  that  in 
ancient  times  the  town  was  supplied  with  water  brought 
from  higher  ground,  at  great  expenditure  of  labour,  for 
the  part  still  remaining  has  involved  cutting  trenches 
in  the  rocks,  and  building  conduits  over  hollows.  A 
huge  reservoir,  like  a  cavern,  had  also  been  quarried 
out  in  the  rock,  to  guard  against  accidental  failure  of 
the  water-supply;  its  height  varying  from  eight  to 
twenty  feet,  and  its  breadth  from  eight  to  fifteen ;  while 
it  has  been  traced  westwards,  through  long- accumulated 
wreckage,  for  580  feet.  Low  mud  hovels  have  been  built 
against  what  remains  of  the  church  of  St.  Anne,  a  relic 
of  the  Crusaders ;  and  there  is  a  large  ruin  called  a  castle, 
but  it  appears  to  be  of  recent  date,  though  probably  the 
successor  of  some  much  more  ancient  fortress.  The  view 
from  the  roof  is  interesting.  To  the  north  lies  the  village 
of  Kefr  Menda ;  east  of  this,  if  its  claim  be  admitted, 
“  Cana  of  Galilee.5’  To  the  south-east  is  the  tomb  on 
the  hill  behind  Nazareth,  and  just  below  you  are  the 
hovels  and  houses  of  Seffurieh  itself.  In  the  time  of 
Josephus,  Sepplioris  was  the  largest  town  of  Galilee,  and 
after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  continued  to  be  the 
head-quarters  of  the  Jewish  people  till  the  fourth  century, 


XLII.] 


EL-BUTTAUF,  CANA,  &c. 


305 


the  Sanhedrim  having  its  seat  here.  Christian  tradition 
alleges  that  the  Virgin  spent  her  childhood  in  Sepphoris, 
but  of  this  there  is  no  proof.  The  platform  on  which 
the  citadel  once  rose  is  covered  with  thick  grass.  In  the 
narrow  dirty  streets  lay  some  great  mill-stones,  evidently 
ancient;  and  on  the  roofs  of  some  of  the  houses  were 
earthenware  bee-hives,  with  thriving  colonies.  Above  the 
squalid  huts  rose  a  few  buildings  of  hewn  stones,  with 
windows,  and  an  upper  chamber  on  the  roof. 

Kefr  Kenna,  or  Cana,  lies  on  high  ground,1  but  not 
on  a  hill.  An  ancient  sarcophagus  close  to  the  village, 
beside  a  small  square  tank  which  is  fed  from  a  spring, 
serves  very  well  as  a  trough.  A  girl  in  a  white  skirt 
and  red  jacket,  bare-headed  and  bare-footed,  with  her  jar 
on  her  head,  was  at  it.  A  broad  lane  of  prickly  pear  led 
to  the  group  of  houses  which  perhaps  represents  the  New 
Testament  Cana.  Loose  stones  were  scattered  thickly 
upon  the  slope  around,  and  indeed  everywhere.  There 
may  be,  possibly,  150  inhabitants,  but  no  one  can  envy 
them  their  huts  of  mud  and  stone,  with  dunghills  at 
every  corner.  Huge  mud  ovens,  like  great  beehives, 
stood  at  the  sides  of  some  of  the  houses,  and  on  a  little 
shelf  on  the  outside  of  one  hut  I  noticed  an  American 
petroleum  tin,  which  had  been  used  the  year  before  as  a 
flower-pot.  It  stood  beside  the  one  small  window,  as  if 
someone  fond  of  flowers  had  put  it  there,  to  get  a  sight, 
now  and  then,  of  something  green  and  beautiful.  In  one 
house  a  worthy  Moslem  was  squatting  on  the  ground 
among1  a  number  of  children,  all  with  slates  on  which 
verses  of  the  Koran  had  been  written,  which  they  re¬ 
peated  together.  It  was  the  village  school ;  perhaps  like 
that  at  Nazareth  eighteen  hundred  years  ago.  A  small 
Franciscan  church  of  white  stone  within  a  nice  railed  wall, 

1  889  feet  above  the  sea. 

U 


306 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


witli  a  beautiful  garden  at  the  side,  had  over  its  doorway 
these  startling  words  in  Latin,  “  Here  Jesus  Christ  from 
water  made  wine.”  Some  large  jars  are  shown  inside  as 
actually  those  used  in  the  miracle,  but  such  mock  relics, 
however  believed  in  by  the  simple  monks,  do  the  faith 
of  other  people  more  harm  than  good. 

The  road  from  this  place  onwards  to  Tiberias  led 
north-east  over  the  plain  of  El-Buttauf,  which  must  have 
been  familiar  ground  to  our  Lord.  Sepphoris  lay  nearly 
west,  on  its  double,  flat-topped  hill.  To  the  north  the 
landscape  stretched  out,  roughened  by  low  heights,  the 
soil  in  the  level  parts  rich  but  very  stony,  while  in  some 
places  sheets  of  rock  came  to  the  surface.  A  great  olive- 
grove,  diamond-shaped  and  nearly  a  mile  in  length,  lay 
on  the  low  ridge  on  the  left ;  along  the  pathway  we  saw 
clumps  of  yellow  broom,  clusters  of  haw  thorn- trees,  not 
yet  white,  and  countless  flowers  among  the  thin  grass. 
The  fig-trees  of  the  Franciscan  garden,  I  should  have 
said,  were  now  all  in  leaf,  for  it  was  the  17th  of  March. 
Patches  of  thistles  were  to  be  seen  at  different  points,  and 
in  some  parts  the  stones  had  been  cleared  from  ploughed 
land  and  thrown  into  the  road,1  to  the  great  discomfort  of 
travellers,  for  they  were  of  all  sizes  and  in  great  quantity. 

The  low  heights  on  the  left  gradually  swelled  up  to 
hills,  one  of  which  is  over  1,700  feet  above  the  sea,  and 
basalt  showed  itself  widely,  for  this  whole  region  was  at 
one  time  volcanic.  Fragments  of  lava  strewed  the  ground 
thickly  in  every  direction ;  the  limestone  disappearing. 
Wild  camomile  and  white  anemones  seemed  respectively 
the  most  common  plant  and  flower.  Some  small  flat- 
roofed  villages  looked  down  from  the  round  tops  of  low 
heights,  but  the  population,  as  everywhere  else,  was  very 
sparse ;  not  enough  to  till  more  than  a  small  portion  of  the 

1  Isa.  v.  2. 


XLIL] 


EL-BUTTAUF,  CANA,  &c. 


307 


arable  soil.  Over  some  bills  to  the  south  lay  the  great 
Khan  Et  Tujjar,  where  a  market  is  held  each  Sunday ; 
the  position  affording  special  facilities,  as  the  route  of  the 
caravan  .trade  between  Cairo  and  Damascus  passes  by  it. 
Two  castles  were  built  here  in  past  ages,  for  the  protection 
of  the  market-people  ;  the  one  on  the  left  of  the  road — a 
great  square  of  hewn  stones,  with  towers  at  the  four 
corners — being  in  tolerably  good  preservation.  The  other 
was  much  more  ruinous.  The  khans  are  for  the  most  part 
wretched  places,  with  no  accommodation  but  the  bare 
walls  of  a  set  of  chambers  built  on  the  second  storey, 
along  the  four  sides  ;  a  balcony  in  front  giving  access  to 
them.  Vermin  of  various  kinds  are  amazingly  abundant. 
If  you  wish  boiling  water  you  must  gather  your  own 
thorns,  and  light  a  fire  in  the  earth-floored  square  below : 
no  easy  task,  if  it  be  rainy  weather.  Bed  and  bedding,  if 
you  use  them,  you  must  bring  with  you,  and  lay  upon  the 
floor  ;  but  this  never  troubles  an  Oriental,  for  his  “  abba,” 
as  I  have  had  occasion  to  remark  elsewhere,  is  all  the  bed¬ 
clothes  he  asks,  and  he  is  as  much  at  home  on  the  bare 
ground  as  a  Russian  peasant  of  the  far  North ;  he  is  happy, 
moreover,  in  a  sublime  indifference  to  vermin. 

It  is  interesting  to  notice  how  exactly  the  Bible  form  of 
reckoning  time  prevails  in  the  East  even  now.  The  hours 
of  the  clay  are  numbered  from  the  first  to  the  twelfth, 
just  as  of  old.  It  is  still  “the  third  hour,”  or  “the  sixth,” 
or  “  the  ninth ; and  the  day  begins  from  sunset,  as 
when  the  Book  of  Genesis  was  written.1  Part  of  a  day 
is  also  reckoned  in  ordinary  conversation  as  a  day,  so 
that  if  anything  happened  the  day  before  yesterday  it 
would  be  said  to  be  the  third  day  since  it  took  place :  a 
computation  just  like  that  of  the  two  disciples  on  the  way 
to  Emmaus,  when  speaking  of  the  crucifixion  of  our 

1  Gen.  i.  5. 


308 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE 


[Chap. 


Lord.1  It  was  striking  also  to  hear  the  religious  tone  of 
ordinary  discourse,  even  among  those  who  do  not  go 
much  beyond  words.  Salutations  are  most  devout  in  their 
invocations  of  blessing,  and  every  turn  of  a  transaction  or 
narrative,  wdiatever  its  nature,  is  interlarded  with  appeals 
to  Grod.  Religion  in  fact  has  become  widely  separated 
from  morality,  as  it  was  in  antiquity,  and  as  it  still  is 
in  too  many  countries  besides.  The  old  Assyrians  speak 
as  devoutly  in  their  inscriptions  as  any  saint  in  Scripture  ; 
the  warriors  in  Homer  do  nothing  without  bringing  in 
their  favourite  god;  and  even  Jezebel,  when  she  threatened 
the  life  of  Elijah,  mechanically  invoked  a  curse  on  herself 
from  her  gods,  should  she  turn  from  her  purpose.2  Pious 
talk  is  nowhere  so  prevalent  as  in  the  East,  the  most 
hardened  scoundrel  flavouring  his  speech  with  it  as  freely 
as  saints  like  Abraham  or  Isaac  do  in  the  Old  Testa¬ 
ment.  As  to  cursing,  it  is  at  home  among  Orientals :  they 
seem  to  have  a  natural  genius  for  it.  St.  Peter  only  acted  as 
might  have  been  expected  from  a  Jew,  and  especially  a 
Jewish  fisherman,  in  beginning  to  curse  and  swear  when 
asked  if  he  had  not  been  with  Christ.3  Orientals  could 
still,  I  suppose,  justly  claim  to  he  the  most  proficient 
of  cursers.  They  swear  by  their  head,  by  their  life,  by 
heaven,  by  everything.  More  than  once  a  man  has  stopped 
as  he  passed  me,  to  invoke  the  most  varied  and  ingenious 
curses  on  the  infidel.  The  maledictory  Psalms  are  in 
strict  keeping  with  Oriental  usage. 

Long,  sweeping  valleys,  with  rich  and  fruitful  black 
earth,  succeeded  each  other  as  we  advanced,  but  there  was 
even  less  cultivation  than  there  had  been  in  Esdraelon. 
Wide,  level  plains,  divided  from  each  other  by  soft  swells 
of  the  land,  were  also  frequent.  In  fact,  we  were 
travelling  over  a  fertile  table-land,  which  would  wave 
1  Luke  xxiv.  21.  2  1  Kings  xix.  2.  3  Matt.  xxvi.  74. 


XLII.] 


EL-BUTTAUF,  CANA,  &c. 


309 


with  plenty  were  there  men  to  break  it  np  and  sow 
it.  Perhaps  its  nearness  to  the  Arabs  of  the  regions 
beyond  Jordan  helped  to  keep  it  idle,  for  the  peasant 
has  little  inducement  to  draw  on  himself  the  notice  of 
these  horn  robbers.  To-day,  as  in  Gideon’s  time,  fierce 
bandits  stream  over  from  the  east — their  long  spears 
held  athwart  their  horses — striking  terror  into  the  heart 
of  the  husbandman,  trampling  down  the  springing  seed, 
carrying  the  grain  from  the  threshing-floors,  driving  away 
the  cattle,  and  killing  anyone  who  resists  them.  The 
government  of  the  country  exists  only  to  raise  taxes ;  it 
gives  no  protection. 

Passing  the  village  of  Lubieli,  standing  over  900  feet 
above  the  sea,  amidst  a  forest  of  olives  and  fig-trees,  our 
road  lay  straight  north  towards  “  the  Horns  of  Hattin,” 
apparently  the  scene  of  our  Lord’s  Sermon  on  the  Mount. 
This  famous  spot  is  reached  by  a  long  gentle  slope  of 
pasture -land,  on  which  a  great  herd  of  black  and  brown 
cattle,  small  and  poor,  was  feeding.  Daisies,  white  and  red 
anemones,  the  phlox,  the  iris,  the  wild  mustard,  grey  and 
dry  thistles,  blue  hyacinths,  and  yellow-flowered  clover 
coloured  the  open  field,  which  was  the  counterpart  of 
some  unfenced  upland  common  in  England.  Molehills, 
or  what  very  much  resembled  them,  abounded,  and  black 
swifts  darted  hither  and  thither  after  insects.  Limestone 
cropped  out  at  the  bottom  of  the  ascent,  hut  was  ex¬ 
changed  for  basalt  as  we  got  higher  up.  Gradually 
the  slope  sank  to  a  level,  green  with  wheat,  which,  how¬ 
ever,  was  sadly  mixed  with  yellow  mustard  weed.  The 
top,  reached  by  climbing  a  short,  rough  slope,  proved  to 
he  a  great  crater-like  space  with  a  slightly  hollow  floor,  set 
in  a  frame  of  rough  crags,  which  inside,  at  the  two  ends, 
rose  in  a  wilderness  of  stone ;  outside  it  swelled  into  high 
grassy  knolls,  “the  Horus  of  Hattin.”  Thousands  could 


810 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


stand  or  sit  in  tlie  huge  circle,  though  it  would  be  a 
rough  gathering-place,  for  the  whole  surface  is  strewn 
with  boulders  and  fragments  of  black  basalt,  as  if  they 
had  been  rained  on  the  earth  in  a  terrific  shower.  Hattin 
is  the  name  of  a  small  village  on  the  ridge  below.  The 
“  Horns  ”  rise  only  sixty  feet  above  the  ground  at  their 
base,  but  no  other  heights  are  visible  in  this  direction 
from  the  Lake  of  Galilee,  which  lies  three  or  four  miles 
off  in  its  deeply-sunk  bed.  It  is  only  since  the  Crusades 
that  this  spot  has  been  assigned  to  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount,  but  the  position  is  so  strikingly  in  keeping  with 
the  intimations  of  the  Gospel  narrative  as  to  give  great 
probability  to  the  choice.  It  is,  however,  possible  that 
the  “  level  place  ”  where  the  multitude  assembled,  and  to 
which  our  Lord  came  down,  was  the  plain  just  below  the 
“Horns.”1  Easy  of  access  alike  to  the  peasants  in  the 
hills  and  the  fishermen  on  the  shore,  no  point  could  have 
been  a  better  centre  to  which  to  draw  both  classes.  All 
the  other  heights  are  only  members  of  a  continuous  chain; 
at  this  point,  alone,  one  can  speak  of  “  the  mountain  ”  as 
an  eminence  detached  from  others,  and  standing  out  from 
lower  ground.  The  descent  to  the  lake  is  by  a  long,  easy 
slope. 

It  was  in  this  neighbourhood  that  the  Christian  king¬ 
dom  of  Jerusalem  met  its  death-blow  at  the  hands  of  the 
Saracen  Sultan,  Saladin,  in  1187,  in  the  great  battle  of 
Hattin.  The  Crusaders,  worn  almost  to  exhaustion,  but 
still  loyally  gathered  round  their  king,  were  no  longer  able 
to  withstand  the  fierce  attacks  of  an  enemy  inspired  by  a 
certainty  of  winning  in  the  unequal  struggle.  For  two 
days  the  wild  strife  raged  over  these  slopes  between 
Hattin  and  Lubieh,  three  miles  south-west,  but  at  last 
Saladin  gained  his  most  splendid  victory;  bringing  to 

1  Luke  vi.  17. 


XLII.] 


EL-BUTTAUF,  CANA,  &o. 


311 


the  ground  at  one  blow  the  Christian  rule  in  Palestine, 
which  had  been  built  up  by  such  a  vast  sacrifice  of  life 
and  treasure.  The  wanderer  in  this  wondrously  lonely 
part  may,  undisturbed,  call  up  in  all  its  living  reality 
the  terrible  tumult  of  battle  which  once  raged  over 
these  heights  and  hollows,  and  he  may  well  sigh  that  the 
result  should  have  been  what  it  was.  But  the  Christian 
kingdom  had  brought  upon  itself  its  destruction.  That 
it  perished  must  be  recognised  as  the  judgment  of  a 
righteous  Providence,  for  it  had  become  corrupt,  and  un¬ 
worthy  of  its  high  mission.  Yet  who  can  remain  un¬ 
affected  by  the  memory  of  so  many  brave  men  in  such 
extremity  as  that  of  the  Christian  army  here  ?  The  Cru¬ 
saders  had  held  the  Holy  Land  for  nearly  a  century,  hut 
they  had  been  weakened  by  feuds  and  dissensions  of  every 
kind ;  they  had  gloried  in  breaking  faith  with  unbelievers ; 
they  had  refused  the  rights  of  property  to  any  but 
Christians ;  they  had  decayed  in  discipline,  till  every 
petty  leader  made  little  wars  against  his  brethren  or  his 
neighbours  ;  they  had  been  governed  by  rulers  without 
ability  or  principle  ;  they  had  sunk  into  gross  immorality 
as  a  class  ;  they  were  not  united  by  any  common  principle 
of  cohesion,  but  bore  themselves  rather  as  independent 
adventurers ;  and,  finally,  they  were,  to  a  large  extent, 
physically  enervated  by  the  climate  and  by  their  own 
imprudence  or  vices.  In  this  condition  Saladin — the 
Kurd — burst  on  them  with  50,000  horse  and  a  vast 
army  of  infantry,  and  forced  them  to  hush  up  their 
miserable  feuds.  The  battle  at  Hattin  was  fought  in 
July,  a  time  when  the  sky  is  cloudless,  and  the  heat  over¬ 
powering.  The  streams  and  fountains  were  running  dry, 
the  cisterns  were  low,  the  ground  was  parched.  At  first 
the  advantage  of  position  was  with  the  Christians,  for  they 
were  encamped  at  the  fountain  below  Sepphoris,  where 


312 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


water  could  be  bad;  but  the  king,  Guy  of  Lusignan, 
unwisely  marclied  towards  Tiberias  to  meet  the  enemy, 
before  whom  that  city  had  already  fallen.  The  Saracens 
were  drawn  up  at  Hattin,  and  were  assailed  by  the  Cru¬ 
saders  at  sunrise ;  a  relic  of  the  true  cross  raised  on  a 
hillock  seeming  to  the  assailants  a  pledge  of  victory.  But 
their  fierce  war-cries  and  desperate  bravery  were  unavail¬ 
ing  against  the  overwhelming  numbers  of  Saladin’s  force, 
and  at  last  they  had  to  flee.  A  few  knights  cut  their  way 
out,  and  escaped  to  Acre,  but  the  king,  after  retreating  to 
the  hills  with  the  relic  of  the  cross,  was  taken  prisoner, 
with  many  of  his  followers,  who  had  repeatedly  repulsed 
the  attacks  of  the  enemy.  Some  of  the  knights  were  sold 
into  slavery,  others  were  executed,  while  one  who  had 
been  by  a  breach  of  faith  the  immediate  cause  of  the  war 
was  put  to  death  by  Saladin  himself.  Beirout,  Acre, 
Ca3sarea,  and  Joppa  opened  their  gates  to  the  conqueror  as 
the  first  results  of  his  victory  ;  Tyre  alone,  by  the  heroism 
of  its  governor,  was  saved;  Ascalon  soon  yielded,  and 
finally  Jerusalem ;  the  prisoners,  everj^where,  being  re¬ 
duced  to  slavery.  Thus  calamitous  was  the  close  of  the 
Christian  kingdom  of  Palestine. 

It  was  afternoon  when  we  were  at  Hattin,  and  the 
sun,  now  bending  to  the  west,  shone  from  a  sky  threaten¬ 
ing  rain.  For  the  time,  however,  his  splendour  rested 
upon  the  landscape.  Far  below,  to  the  east,  lay  the 
glittering  waters  of  that  lake  on  whose  waves  the  feet 
of  our  Lord  had  pressed  as  on  firm  ground.  A  soft 
west  wind  breathed  around  us.  The  slopes  near  were 
green  with  grass  or  rising  barley,  chequered  with  black 
patches  of  ploughed  land.  On  the  south-west  rose  the 
huge  cone  of  Tabor,  lovely  with  boscage.  To  the  north 
the  mountains  of  Safed  towered  up  in  majesty,  and  beyond 
them,  mingling  earth  with  the  upper  sky,  shone  the 


XLII.] 


EL-BUTTAUF,  CANA,  &c. 


313 


majestic  snow- crowned  summit  of  Hermon.  Across  the 
lake  the  hills  seemed  to  form  a  table-land,  cut  into 
ravines  by  the  rains  of  ages,  and  sinking  to  the  waters, 
here  gently,  there  in  steep  precipices,  but  everywhere 
barren  and  treeless.  No  signs  of  human  habitation 
were  visible ;  no  huts  or  houses  to  mirror  themselves  in 
the  smooth  water ;  no  woods  or  meadows,  though  the  light 
and  shade,  in  such  pure  air,  created  picturesque  tints 
which  gave  beauty  even  to  the  desolation.  Silence  and 
loneliness  reigned,  for  Tiberias  was  out  of  sight  below  the 
slopes,  and  one  was  free  to  give  the  imagination  full  play 
amidst  those  holy  fields 


“  Over  whose  acres  walked  those  blessed  feet 
Which,  eighteen  hundred  years  ago,  were  nailed, 

For  our  advantage,  on  the  bitter  cross.” 

Descending  towards  the  south-east,  we  soon  turned 
into  a  rich  valley,  nearly  all  ploughed,  and  came  on  half 
a  dozen  men,  shepherds  and  peasants,  in  charge  of  a  herd 
of  cattle.  They  each  had  on  an  “  abba  ”  of  canvas,  with  a 
“  kefiyeli  ”  over  the  head.  One  was  carrying  a  plough  on 
his  shoulders,  another  had  a  gun,  and  all  had  thick 
staves  or  clubs  :  a  sign  of  the  insecurity  of  the  neighbour¬ 
hood.  The  wind  had  by  this  time  gone  round  to  the 
north-west,  and  the  sky  grew  dark  over  the  lake,  now 
evidently  roughened  by  a  rain-storm,  perhaps  like  that 
which  once  broke  over  the  boat  when  our  Lord  lay  asleep.1 
A  rainbow  presently  showed  that  the  rain  was  passing 
away,  but,  unfortunately,  the  clouds  were  coming  straight 
towards  us,  and  the  road,  rough  and  down-hill,  prevented 
our  hurrying.  A  deep,  wide  glen  opened  as  we  rode  on, 
its  whole  space  pleasantly  green,  and  enlivened  with  large 


1  Mark  iv.  37. 


314 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE.  [Chap.  XLII. 


flocks  of  goats,  kids,  slieep,  and  lambs,  in  one  case  with  a 
little  bare-headed  boy,  stick  in  hand,  as  shepherd.  A 
number  of  Damascus  mules,  on  their  way  home  with¬ 
out  loads,  were  feeding  on  the  slopes.  The  ownership 
of  the  flocks  was  presently  shown  by  the  sight  of  two 
groups  of  black  tents  of  Bedouins,  for  these  ill-conditioned 
ruffians  own  nearly  all  the  cattle,  sheep,  or  goats  one 
sees,  leaving  the  peasant  only  what  he  can  keep  them 
from  stealing,  and  what  crops  he  can  guard.  While  still 
among  the  hills  the  rain  broke  over  us,  and  there  was  no 
shelter ;  but  at  last,  before  we  reached  Tiberias,  there 
was  the  “  clear  shining  after  it,  and  the  “mown,”  or 
at  least  thirsty  grass,  washed  and  brightened,  gleamed  in 
the  sun. 


CHAPTER  XLIII. 


TIBERIAS. 

Our  tents  had  been  pitched  at  the  south  end  of  the 
town,  so  that  we  had  to  ride  past  the  castle  at  its  north 
edge,  alongside  the  town  wall,  and  then  through  the 
wretched  apologies  for  streets.  That  night  a  rain-storm 
had  its  way  from  dark  till  morning,  and  a  fine  time  it 
gave  us.  The  tent-cover  flapped  like  a  huge  bird  caught 
in  the  toils,  or,  to  vary  the  figure,  flew  up  and  down,  out 
and  in,  as  if  it  had  been  possessed ;  the  huge  red,  yellow, 
white,  and  blue  flowers  of  bunting  with  which  it  was 
adorned  on  the  inside,  took  life,  and  leaped  and  tore  round 
all  the  tent,  and  up  and  down  the  roof,  like  a  weird 
dance.  I  thought  of  the  witches  going  through  their  wild 
careerings  on  the  last  night  of  April  on  brooms  and 
goats,  holding  revel  with  their  master  the  devil  at  the  old 
heathen  altars  of  North  Germany,  which  Walpurgis,1  the 
English  monk,  had  by  his  preaching  left  cold  and  dark 
even  on  May  Hay,  when  the  sacred  fires  used  to  glow  on 
them  more  than  in  all  the  year  besides.  All  through 
the  night  the  rain  splashed  down  in  sheets,  dripping 
delightfully  from  the  roof.  It  was  no  matter  where  the 
narrow  bed  was  dragged  ;  before  two  minutes  some  big 
drop  was  sure  to  find  you  out ;  and,  to  make  matters  more 
pleasant,  it  was  quite  dark.  Thanks  to  a  trench  dug 
round  the  tent  by  the  men  when  the  storm  began,  it  was 


1  About  a.d.  750. 


316 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


comparatively  dry  under-foot,  and  before  morning  the 
wind-spirits  were  tired  of  their  madcap  riot,  and  slunk  off, 
taking  their  friend  the  rain  with  them. 

The  day  broke  clear  and  delightful,  so  that  one  could 
move  about.  The  shore  was  strewn  with  the  wreck  of  the 
once  splendid  city  of  Tiberias,  which  extended  along  it  for 
more  than  half  a  mile.  In  its  place,  the  modern  town 
presents  a  spectacle  of  ruins,  filth,  and  wretchedness  which 
is  peculiar  to  itself,  even  in  Palestine.  The  castle  at  the 
north  end,  with  its  towers,  standing  on  a  low  height,  was 
greatly  injured  by  the  terrible  earthquake  of  1837,  which 
killed  about  half  the  population.  A  sea-wall,  rising  out 
of  the  water  in  front  of  the  town,  and  of  course  a  relic  of 
antiquity,  was  twisted  and  rent  in  many  places  ;  the  town 
walls  were  shaken  and  split,  and  most  of  the  houses  de¬ 
stroyed,  some  still  remaining  in  ruins.  On  a  smaller  scale, 
the  destruction  resembled  that  which  I  saw  at  Scio  in 
the  Greek  Archipelago,  where  a  fine  stone  town  had  been 
shaken  down  like  a  set  of  card-houses,  and  several  acres 
were  covered  with  the  debris ,  making  it  difficult  to  imagine 
how  anyone  escaped. 

Earthquakes  are  not  infrequent  in  Palestine,  and  were 
as  much  dreaded  in  Bible  times  as  now,  though  only  one 
is  mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament;1  that  which  happened 
in  the  reign  of  Uzziah,  so  terrifying  the  people  of  Jerusa¬ 
lem  that  they  fled  to  the  Mount  of  Olives.  Palestine  lies 
on  a  cleft  of  the  earth’s  surface  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
which  earthquakes  are  common.  This  stretches  from  the 
volcanic  Taurus  Mountains,  passes  between  the  two  ranges 
of  Lebanon,  forms  the  Jordan  chasm  and  the  bed  of 
the  Dead  Sea,  and  ends  at  the  Bay  of  Akabah.  Along 
this  line,  convulsions  of  the  earth  sometimes  occur  with 
terrible  violence.  Josephus  speaks  of  one  which  deso- 

1  Amos  i.  1 ;  Zech.  xiv.  4,  5. 


XLIII. 


TIBERIAS. 


317 


lated  Judsea  in  the  reign  of  Herod,  about  thirty  years 
before  Christ,  killing  10,000  people  and  a  great  many 
cattle.1  The  darkening  of  the  sky  at  the  crucifixion  of  our 
Lord  must  also  be  attributed  to  a  disturbance  of  the 
earth,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Jerusalem.2  In  the  year 
1181  the  whole  of  the  Hauran,  which  borders  the  line 
of  the  Jordan,  was  shaken  by  an  earthquake.  The  con¬ 
vulsion  of  1837,  however,  exceeded  all  others  which  are 
known  to  us.  Hot  only  Tiberias,  but  Safed  was  overthrown, 
while  the  trembling  extended  500  miles  north  and  south, 
and  from  80  to  100  miles  east  and  west.  All  earthquakes, 
however,  have  a  central  point  of  greatest  violence,  from 
which  the  oscillations  vibrate  in  every  direction,  at  the 
rate  of  about  30  miles  a  minute,  so  that  the  force  of  the 
earth -wave  is  weakened  at  a  distance  from  the  centre  ; 
towns  like  Nazareth  and  Jerusalem  suffering  little  by  a 
shock  which  throws  down  others  lying,  like  Tiberias, 
nearer  the  centre. 

At  Tiberias  the  sufferers  were  largely  Jews,  though  not 
a  few  others  were  overwhelmed  by  it.  A  Mahommedau 
told  Dr.  Robinson  that  he  and  four  companions  were  re¬ 
turning  down  the  mountain,  west  of  the  city,  on  the  after¬ 
noon  when  the  shock  took  place.  All  at  once  the  earth 
opened  and  closed  again,  and  two  of  his  friends  disap¬ 
peared.  He  ran  home  in  terror,  and  found  that  his  wife, 
mother,  aud  two  more  of  the  family  were  gone.  On 
digging  next  day  where  his  two  neighbours  had  vanished, 
he  found  them  dead,  in  a  standing  posture.  Seventy- 
eight  years  before,  in  1759,  the  town  was  laid  waste  by  a 
similar  catastrophe. 

The  falling  in  of  portions  of  the  earth’s  crust,  and  the 
strain  caused  by  a  sudden  development  of  gas  and  steam, 
are  the  causes  of  these  awful  catastrophes.  Among  a 
1  Jos.  Ant.,  xv.  5,  2.  2  Matt,  xxvii.  51. 


318 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


people  like  the  Hebrews  it  was  rightly  felt  that  they  were 
the  work  of  God.  “  He  looketh  on  the  earth,  and  it 
trembleth,”  says  the  Psalmist.1  There  is  also  another 
allusion  to  earthquakes,  in  the  Eighth  Psalm.2  Every¬ 
thing,  indeed,  in  such  a  visitation,  is  fitted  to  overpower 
the  mind.  In  1837  the  hot  baths  of  Tiberias  rose  to  such 
a  temperature  that  ordinary  thermometers  were  useless,3 
and  at  various  places  the  earth  opened  in  great  chasms, 
swallowing  up  many  unsuspecting  travellers,  and  closing 
on  them  in  a  few  seconds,  as  when  of  old  the  ground 
devoured  Korah  and  his  company.4  In  Lebanon  earth¬ 
quakes  are  so  frequent  that  most  of  the  houses  are  of 
only  one  storey,  with  a  flat  roof ;  and  they  often  show,  in 
their  beams  and  walls,  marks  of  the  twisting  and  shaking 
of  earth- waves.  At  Baalbek,  again,  there  are  huge  pillars 
thrown  far  out  of  the  perpendicular :  an  appearance  which 
no  force  could  produce  but  that  of  an  eddy  of  earthquake 
undulations.  That  these  stupendous  phenomena  should 
be  connected  w7ith  the  manifestations  of  the  Almighty 
need  not  surprise  us.  An  earthquake  rent  Sinai  when 
God  passed  before  Elijah;5  the  firmness  of  His  promises 
is  enforced  by  being  set  above  that  of  the  mountains 
and  the  hills;6  an  earthquake  followed  the  death  of  our 
Lord  ;  and  this  dread  terror  is  named  among  the  awful 
signs  of  His  final  coming  to  judgment.7 

The  Jews  are  very  numerous  in  Tiberias,  it  and  Safed 
being,  after  Jerusalem  and  Hebron,  the  two  holiest  towns  ; 
for  the  Messiah  is  one  day,  they  believe,  to  rise  out  of  the 
waters  of  the  lake  and  land  at  Tiberias,  and  Safed  is  to 
be  the  seat  of  His  throne  !  How  imperishable  is  hope  ! 

1  Ps.  civ.  32. 

2  Ps.  viii.  8  If. 

8  Furrer  ;  Schenkel,  Bib.  Lex.,  ii.  138. 

7  Matt.  xxiv.  7  ;  xxvii.  51. 


4  Num.  xvi.  32. 

6  1  Kings  xix.  11. 
6  Isa.  liv.  10. 


XLIII.] 


TIBERIAS. 


319 


Prayer  must  be  repeated  at  Tiberias  at  least  twice  a  week, 
to  keep  tbe  world  from  being  destroyed.  The  worship  in 
the  synagogue  seems  to  be  in  some  respects  peculiar,  since 
tbe  congregation  seek  to  intensify  different  parts  of  the 
service  by  mimetic  enforcement  of  its  words.  Thus,  when 
the  Pabbi  recites  the  passage,  “  Praise  the  Lord  with  the 
sound  of  a  trumpet,”  they  imitate  the  sound  of  a  trumpet 
through  their  closed  fists  ;  when  a  tempest  is  mentioned, 
they  puff  and  blow  to  represent  a  storm  ;  and  when  the 
cries  of  the  righteous  in  distress  are  spoken  of  in  the 
Lesson,  they  all  set  up  a  loud  screaming.  The  Israelites 
of  Tiberias  are  chiefly  from  Pussian  Poland,  and  do  not 
speak  German.  Poor,  thin,  and  filthy,  they  are  certainly 
far  from  attractive ;  but  the  women  are  neatly  dressed, 
many  of  them  in  white,  and  look  much  better  than  the 
men. 

Ancient  Tiberias  was  built  by  “  the  Pox,”  Herod 
Antipas,  between  a.d.  20  and  27  ;  that  is,  it  was  begun 
when  our  Lord  was  about  twenty-four,  and  finished  when 
He  was  thirty- one.  During  His  public  ministry,  there¬ 
fore,  it  was  in  its  first  glory,  with  its  Grecian  colon¬ 
nades,  its  Poman  gates,  its  grand  palace  with  gilded  roof, 
wondrous  candelabra,  and  walls  painted  with  what  seemed 
to  the  Jews  idolatrous  symbols  ;  its  synagogue,  one  of  the 
finest  in  Galilee ;  and  its  spacious  squares,  adorned  with 
marble  statues.  Yet  it  is  not  known  that  our  Saviour 
ever  entered  the  city,  notwithstanding  all  its  splendour. 
St.  John  is  the  only  Evangelist  who  mentions  it,  but 
he  speaks  of  it  only  once,  though  he  twice  calls  the  lake 
“the  Sea  of  Tiberias.7’1  “The  Pox”  was  too  dangerous 
an  enemy  for  our  Lord  to  put  Himself  into  his  power, 
but  the  character  of  the  city  in  its  first  years  may  also 
account  for  the  silence  about  it  in  the  Gospels.  An  old 

1  John  vi.  1,  23;  xxi.  1. 


320 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


cemetery  had  been  laid  bare  in  planning  the  new  capital, 
and  this  made  tlie  place  so  unclean  that  no  strict  Jew 
would  go  near  it.  Indeed,  a  population  was  obtained  only 
by  giving  bouses  to  lieatben  freedmen  and  even  slaves, 
to  induce  them  to  settle  in  it.1  To  visit  a  place  thus 
defiled  would  have  rendered  Christ  and  His  disciples  cere¬ 
monial^  unclean,  which  would  have  cut  them  off  from 
communication  with  the  Jewish  people,  and  thus  prevented 
them  from  preaching  the  Gospel  to  them. 

That  there  was  a  cemetery  on  the  site  of  Tiberias  is, 
however,  a  proof  that  another  city  had  preceded  it,  though 
so  long  before  that  the  tombs  were  mere  antiquities.  The 
face  of  the  hill  at  the  north  end  of  the  town,  moreover,  is 
pierced  with  many  very  ancient  sepulchres,  some  of  which 
must  have  been  destroyed  when  the  town  walls  were 
originally  built.  There  is,  in  fact,  no  reaching  the  earliest 
history  of  Palestine ;  in  the  long  past,  nation  follows 
nation,  hut  the  story  of  the  first  in  the  strange  succession 
is  always  veiled  by  impenetrable  antiquity. 

Tiberias  is  exceedingly  hot  and  unhealthy  in  summer, 
because  of  its  low  situation,  for  it  lies  no  less  than 
682  feet  below  the  level  of  the  Mediterranean.  This 

i 

in  itself  would  make  the  climate  of  the  place  very  warm, 
but  matters  are  made  still  worse  by  hills  1,000  feet  high, 
behind  the  town,  impeding  the  free  course  of  the  re¬ 
freshing  westerly  winds  which  prevail  throughout  Syria 
during  summer.  Hence,  intermittent  fevers  and  severe 
forms  of  ague  are  very  common  at  that  season.  Even 
in  winter  little  rain  falls  ;  snow  is  almost  unknown ;  and 
the  tropical  vegetation,  seen  in  nubk-thorns,  palm-trees, 
and  other  tropical  growths,  indicates  a  temperature  much 
like  that  of  the  sunken  “  glior  ”  of  the  Jordan,  and 
approaching  the  sultry  oppressiveness  of  the  valley  of 

1  Jos.  Ant.,  xviii.  2,  3. 


XLIII.] 


TIBERIAS. 


321 


tlie  Dead  Sea.  The  hill  behind  the  city,  as  well  as 
the  knoll  to  the  north  of  it,  is  full  of  ancient  tombs, 
some  of  them  over  100  feet  in  length  ;  their  cemented 
sides  and  other  indications  showing  that  they  had  been 
long  used  as  cave-dwellings,  after  their  service  as  tombs 
had  ended  with  the  disappearance  of  the  population  by 
whom  they  had  been  excavated.  But  they  are  no  longer 
inhabited,  except  by  hyaenas,  foxes,  and  jackals. 

The  ancient  city  lay  mainly  to  the  south  of  the  present 
Tiberias,  as  is  evident  from  the  position  of  the  numerous 
foundations,  traces  of  walls,  heaps  of  stones,  and  remains 
of  the  old  sea-wall.  At  one  spot  lie  eight  pillars  of 
grey  granite,  originally  brought  from  Syene,  in  Egypt ;  at 
another  a  single  pillar  is  still  erect ;  and  to  the  west  of  the 
town  are  two  blocks  of  Syenite  granite,  once  part  of  a  great 
pillar,  the  material  of  which  came  from  the  cataracts  of 
the  Nile.  The  ruins  of  the  ancient  city  have  been  much 
excavated  for  building-stone,  and  also  for  limestone  blocks, 
to  be  burnt  for  mortar.  Water  used  to  he  brought  in  an 
aqueduct  more  than  six  miles  long  from  the  Wady  Fejjas, 
below  the  south  end  of  the  lake,  and  the  city  wall,  three 
miles  long,  in  all,  was  led  zigzag  up  to  the  hills  at  the 
back,  with  cisterns  at  some  of  the  angles. 

About  a  mile  south  of  the  present  city  are  the  hot 
baths,  famous  for  many  ages.  A  stone  building,  with  a 
dilapidated  dome,  encloses  them,  but  it  is  hardly  pleasant 
to  use  water  after  it  has  been  enjoyed  by  sufferers  from  all 
kinds  of  ailments.  The  temperature  of  the  water  is  very 
high — about  144°  Fahrenheit;  and  it  tastes  like  very 
warm  sea-water,  excessively  salt  and  bitter,  with  a  strong 
smell,  but  no  taste,  of  sulphur.  There  are  four  springs, 
which  are  collected  into  a  covered  channel  that  conducts 
them  to  the  baths.  The  present  building  is  only  about 
fifty  years  old,  but  it  has  never  been  repaired  since  it  was 


v 


322  THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE.  [Chap. 

built  by  Ibrahim  Pasha  in  place  of  the  old  building,  which 
is  quite  decayed.  The  reservoir  is  arched  over,  and  retains 
the  water  till  it  is  cool  enough  for  use ;  as  it  comes  from 
the  ground  it  is  too  hot  for  the  hand  to  bear.  As  these 
baths  were  known  in  Christ’s  day  by  the  name  “  Ammaus,” 
or  “Warm  Baths,”  they  may  have  originally  been  the 
“  Hammath,”  in  the  tribe  of  Naphtali,  mentioned  in 
Joshua.1  A  mile  from  the  baths,  on  the  brow  of  the  hill 
west  of  the  castle,  and  at  the  north  end  of  the  town,  Dr. 
Tristram  discovered  a  hot-air  cave,  which  he  found  him¬ 
self  unable  to  explore,  for  the  current  of  heated  air  made  it 
impossible  to  carry  lights,  and  the  walls  and  floor  were  so 
slippery  as  to  render  attempts  to  advance  unsafe,  although 
he  had  a  rope  lashed  round  him,  held  by  strong  men  out¬ 
side,  to  draw  him  back  in  case  of  accident.  Such  a  steam 
bath  shows  how  entirely  the  whole  region  around  the 
town  is  pervaded  by  subterranean  furnaces,  ready  at  any 
moment  to  spread  disaster  over  the  district. 

In  the  great  Jewish  wTar  Tiberias  bore  a  conspicuous 
part,  for  it  had  outlived  its  ceremonial  defilement,  and  was 
both  rich  and  populous.  Josephus,  when  in  command  in 
Galilee,  fortified  it,  and  we  may  judge  the  size  of  its 
synagogue  from  its  having  been  used  by  him  as  a  place  in 
which  he  convened  a  public  assembly  of  the  people.3 
Although  so  strong  that  Vespasian  did  not  venture  to 
approach  it  with  fewer  than  three  legions  of  his  best  troops, 
the  town  surrendered,  and  was  thus  saved  from  ruin ; 
but  Kerak,  or  Tariclisea,  a  few  miles  farther  south,  and 
also  on  the  lake,  was  only  taken  by  storming.  Even 
then,  many  of  the  inhabitants,  having  escaped  in  boats, 
were  only  overcome  when  Vespasian  had  built  a  fleet  of 
other  boats  to  pursue  them.  A  great  fight  on  the  lake 
was  fatal  to  the  Jews,  6,500  falling  in  the  naval  battle  and 

1  Josli.  xix.  35.  Jos.  Ant.,  xviii.  2,  3. 


2  Jos.  Vita,  sec.  54. 


XLIII.] 


TIBERIAS. 


323 


in  the  siege  of  Tarichgea  itself.  Twelve  hundred  more, 
either  too  young  or  too  old  to  bear  arms  or  to  labour,  were 
put  to  death  in  cold  blood,  in  the  circus  at  Tiberias.  After 
Jerusalem  had  perished,  the  Rabbis  and  Jews  betook 
themselves  hither  in  great  numbers,  till  at  last  it  had  as 
many  as  thirteen  synagogues.  Here  the  famous  Mishna 
was  completed,  about  200  years  after  Christ,  and  the 
Jerusalem  Talmud  a  century  later.  The  city  was  long  the 
great  seat  of  Jewish  learning,  and  the  graves  of  many 
famous  doctors — that  of  the  great  Maimonides  among 
others — are  still  shown  in  the  Jewish  burial-ground  west 
of  the  city. 


CHAPTER  XLIY. 


THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE. 

The  Sea  of  Galilee  is  shaped  like  a  pear,  with  a  width,  at 
the  broadest  part,  of  six  and  three-quarter  miles,  and  a 
length  of  twelve  and  a  quarter  miles ;  that  is,  it  is  about 
the  same  length  as  our  own  Windermere,  but  considerably 
broader,  though  in  the  clear  air  of  Palestine  it  looks 
somewhat  smaller.  Nothing  can  exceed  the  bright  clear¬ 
ness  of  the  water,  which  it  is  delightful  to  watch  as  it 
runs  in  small  waves  over  the  shingle.  Its  taste,  moreover, 
is  sweet,  except  near  the  hot  springs  and  at  Tiberias,  where 
it  is  polluted  by  the  sewage  of  the  town.  On  the  western 
side  there  is  a  strip  of  green  along  the  shore  south  from 
Tiberias,  about  two  and  a  half  miles  long,  but  little  more 
than  a  quarter  of  a  mile  broad  at  its  widest  part.  Beyond 
this  the  hills  for  three  miles,  almost  to  the  point  where 
the  Jordan  leaves  the  lake,  approach  to  the  water’s  edge. 
For  three  miles  north  of  Tiberias  they  do  the  same.  Then 
comes  the  well-known  recess  of  the  Plain  of  Grennesaret, 
about  three  miles  long,  and  about  a  mile  broad  at  its 
widest  part.  For  about  four  miles  above  this,  almost  to 
the  entrance  of  the  Jordan  into  the  lake,  the  hills  again 
reach  to  the  water’s  edge.  The  largest  tract  of  green  in 
the  landscape  extends  from  half  a  mile  west  of  the  river, 
round  the  head  of  the  lake,  and  down  nearly  six  miles  of 
the  eastern  shore  ;  it  is  irregular  in  shape,  as  the  hills 
advance  or  fall  back,  but  only  at  three  places  is  it  so  much 


Chap.  XLIY.] 


THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE. 


325 


as  a  mile  and  a  half  in  width.  A  short  interval  of  hill, 
with  no  shore,  then  occurs,  almost  opposite  Tiberias,  and 
from  thence  to  the  point  where  the  river  leaves  the  lake 
there  is  another  green  strip,  for  the  most  part  about  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  broad.  Thus  there  is  much  more  level 
ground  on  the  eastern  side  than  on  the  western,  yet  the 
western  side  was  alwaj^s,  in  Bible  times,  much  more 
thickly  peopled  by  the  Hebrews  than  the  other  ;  partly 
from  the  fact  that  “  beyond  Jordan  ”  was  almost  a  foreign 
country ;  partly  because  the  land  above  the  lake  on  the 
east  was  exposed  to  the  Arabs  ;  and  in  some  measure  also 
because  it  always  had  a  large  intermixture  of  heathen 
population. 

In  Christ’s  days  the  sails  of  whole  fleets  of  boats  were 
reflected  in  the  waters.  A  constant  coasting  traffic,  and  a 
busy  intercourse  between  the  opposite  shores,  employed 
many,  while  the  fisheries  gave  occupation  to  thousands. 
Tarichsea,  now  the  ruin  called  ICerak,  near  the  outflow  of 
the  Jordan,  had  so  many  boats  that  Josephus  at  one  time 
collected  230,  for  some  operations  against  Tiberias,  and 
we  have  seen  how  Vespasian  needed  to  build  a  fleet  to 
pursue  those  which  sailed  away  from  the  town  when  he 
took  it.  Capernaum,  Tiberias,  Bethsaida,  and  other  places 
must,  besides,  have  had  large  numbers  of  boats,  for  the 
fish  trade,  fresh  and  salt,  was  a  great  industry  when  the 
population  everywhere  was  dense. 

Having  asked  our  dragoman  to  hire  a  vessel  for  a  day’s 
sail  on  the  lake,  we  had  an  early  call  from  the  master  of 
a  very  good  boat,  offering  to  take  us  up  the  shores  for 
twenty  shillings.  As  this,  however,  was  a  small  fortune 
in  these  parts,  he  was  glad  to  take  half  of  it,  which  amply 
repaid  him,  and  is,  indeed,  the  regular  fare.  The  vessel 
was  of  six  or  eight  tons  burthen,  sharp  at  both  ends.  A. 
mast  leaning  forward  rose  to  a  height  of  twelve  or  thirteen 


326 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


feet,  with  a  rope  through  a  pulley  at  the  top  to  hold  up  a 
huge  lateen  sail — that  is,  a  sail  stretched  on  a  pole  jut¬ 
ting  upwards  at  a  sharp  angle  on  one  side,  high  above 
the  mast,  though  the  word  originally  means  a  Latin  or 
Homan — that  is,  Italian — sail.  The  boat  was  built,  I 
believe,  at  Beirout,  in  sections,  which  were  carried  to 
Tiberias  on  camels,  and  there  put  together.  All  the  wood 
was  foreign  except  the  ribs,  which  were  of  oak  from 
Tabor.  The  stern  was  decked  for  about  five  feet,  and  on 
this  place  of  honour  our  mats  were  spread  ;  the  nets  being 
usually  stowed  away  in  the  hollow  below  us,  though  on 
this  occasion  they  were  left  ashore.  Was  it  on  this  stern- 
deck  that  Christ  lay  during  the  storm  ?  Or  did  He  rest, 
as  we  were  glad  to  do  after  a  time,  in  the  bottom  of  the 
boat  ?  The  smell  of  fish  was  overpowering,  almost  pro¬ 
ducing  nausea.  Yet  it  was  in  such  a  boat,  perhaps  in 
one  not  so  good,  that  He  sailed  many  a  time  on  these 
very  waters  !  The  crew  were  four  in  number,  arrayed  in 
baggy  blue  cotton  breeches,  over  which  one  had  a  long 
old  European  paletot,  with  a  hood;  the  second,  a  Euro¬ 
pean  loose  coat  of  grey-brown  cloth;  the  third,  an  old  light 
cloth  overcoat,  got  I  know  not  where ;  while  the  fourth 
gloried  in  a  red  striped  coat,  from  Damascus,  the  sleeves 
braided  with  stripes  and  ornaments.  Beneath  these  outer 
coverings  they  had  shirts  or  vests,  of  striped  yellow,  brown, 
green  and  yellow,  and  red  and  yellow,  and  all  had  “  kefi- 
yehs”  on  their  heads — one  of  black  silk,  one  of  dark  purple 
stuff,  the  third  of  red,  and  the  fourth  of  black  ;  only  one 
being  of  silk,  and  that  old  and  worn.  The  men  were  bare¬ 
legged  and  bare-footed,  and  were  all  big  fellows,  of  light- 
brown  complexion.  Were  the  apostles  dressed  as  strangeljr, 
to  our  ideas,  with  Homan  paletots  and  overcoats,  perhaps, 
instead  of  Levantine? 

The  day  was  charming.  To  the  north,  beyond  Safed, 


XLIV.] 


THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE. 


327 


Hermon  rose  above  the  bills,  like  a  great  snowy  cloud, 
whiter  than  any  fuller  on  earth  could  whiten  his  web  ; 
flecked  and  furrowed  by  shades  of  light  reflected  by 
the  snow  from  a  thousand  projections  or  hollows ;  no 
high  peak,  but  a  great  low  arch  of  light.  The  old  sea¬ 
walls  of  Tiberias  rose  slightly  out  of  the  water,  with 
a  basalt  tower  at  one  point.  Women  were  washing  their 
mats  and  linen  in  the  lake,  among  wretchedly  poor  houses, 
broken  walls,  and  dunghills  ;  only  a  few  of  the  dwell¬ 
ings,  indeed,  were  in  passable  repair.  At  one  place,  some 
women  were  taking  water,  for  drinking  and  household  uses, 
from  the  foot  of  a  great  manure  and  dust  heap,  which 
extended  in  a  high  mound  to  the  water’s  edge.  The  castle 
at  the  northern  end  of  the  town  appears  very  ruinous,  as 
seen  from  the  water.  The  outflow  of  basalt  reached  to  the 
side  of  the  lake;  the  banks  being  covered  with  fragments, 
and  great  masses  lying  in  the  lake  itself.  Gradually,  as 
we  rowed  on,  the  ground  rose,  topped  with  a  narrow  out¬ 
crop  of  basalt,  the  steep  slope  roughly  green  with  bushes 
of  thorn ;  then  the  level  sank  again  to  the  shore,  and  thus 
it  kept  on,  rising  and  falling,  with  more  stones  than  grass 
even  on  its  best  parts.  I  did  not  see  more  than  three  or 
four  boats  on  the  shore,  and  none  at  all  on  the  water.  A 
kingfisher  on  a  post,  watching  for  little  fish,  a  gull  over¬ 
head,  and  some  wild  ducks  in  the  lake,  farther  on,  were 
the  only  birds  I  noticed.  Boulders  lay  in  great  numbers 
in  the  water  all  along  the  coast,  till  we  came  to  Gennesaret. 

An  hour’s  rowing  brought  us  to  Mejdel,  the  Magdala 
of  the  Gospels.  The  bank  rises  in  front  of  it  in  knolls  and 
low  heights,  then  farther  back,  towards  the  opening  of  a 
valley  from  the  uplands,  it  becomes  higher.  The  hills 
were  rocky,  but  here  and  there  tolerably  green,  while 
basalt  still  cropped  out  at  different  points.  Close  to  the 
lake  were  a  few  bushes  and  beds  of  reeds ;  and  the  valley 


328 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


ran  back  to  tlie  south-west,  the  gentle  upward  slope  being 
dotted  with  bushes.  On  the  northern  side  of  the  valley 
the  hills  rose  high,  writh  spots  of  their  steep  sides  ploughed, 
though,  behind  the  lake,  basalt  in  many  parts  stands  out 
boldly.  The  place  has  hardly  any  population,  and  the 
few  who  do  live  here  could  not  be  poorer  or  more  wretched 
than  they  are.  A  patch  of  green  wheat  rose  on  one  spot 
at  the  mouth  of  the  valley ;  and,  stretching  along  the 
hill-sides,  the  telegraph  poles  to  Damascus,  with  a  pathway 
winding  on  beside  them — the  road  north  and  south  for 

o 

all  travellers. 

Magdala  stands  on  the  south  corner  of  the  Plain  of 
Gennesaret.  Two  or  three  fig-trees  grow  in  or  near  the 
houses,  and  there  are  a  few  wretched  gardens,  with  palms 
in  them  a  few  feet  high.  A  small  brook  sends  a  trickle  of 
water  to  the  lake  over  a  stony  bottom,  but  it  is  not  irre¬ 
proachably  pure,  for  it  has  to  run  through  dunghills.  The 
houses,  or  huts,  of  which  there  are  not  more  than  a  dozen 
altogether,  are  built  of  mud  and  stone,  and  are  of  one 
storey  and  flat-roofed,  with  no  light  except  from  the  door ; 
a  rough  pillar  of  mud  and  stone  in  the  one  room  holds 
up  the  ceiling  of  reeds  and  branches,  and  two  levels  in 
the  mud  floor  mark  the  respective  bounds  of  man  and 
beast ;  for  fowls,  goats,  and  perhaps  an  ass,  or  some  other 
creature,  share  the  premises  with  the  family.  Some  un¬ 
speakably  dirty,  almost  naked,  children  followed  us  about. 
The  ground  was  rank  with  brambles,  wild  mustard,  coarse 
grass — which,  if  drawn  smartly  through  one’s  fingers, 
would  cut  them — and  low  prickly  bushes,  with  beds  of 
black  basalt  fragments  of  all  sizes.  An  old  keep,  origin¬ 
ally  built,  it  is  said,  as  a  “  fish  tower,”  rose  beside  a 
ruinous  pool,  once  full  of  fish,  but  now  mostly  filled  with 
stones,  and  leaking  so  that  the  soil  for  some  distance 
round  was  quaggy  with  water.  Five  or  six.  springs, 


XLIY.] 


THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE. 


329 


breaking  out  of  tlie  earth  some  distance  up  the  valley, 
feed  this  old  reservoir,  and  then  make  their  way  through 
the  stones  to  the  lake.  Eight  fig-trees  and  some  elder- 
hushes,  fed  by  the  moisture,  helped  to  hide  the  misery  of 
the  spot ;  and  there  were  here  and  there  a  few  oleanders, 
Christ-tliorn  trees,  and  other  semi-tropical  growths.  Such 
is  the  village  of  Mary,  whom  we  now  call  the  Magdalene,1 
with  a  special  meaning  to  the  word,  though  we  know 
nothing  of  her  except  that  she  came  from  Magdala,  was 
possessed  with  seven  devils — a  calamity  we  cannot  now 
understand — and  was  a  person  in  such  a  position  that  she 
could  minister  to  our  Lord’s  needs. 

The  valley  behind  Magdala  is  famous  in  Jewish  his¬ 
tory.  Now  known  as  the  Wady  Ham  am,  or  “  the  Valley  of 
Pigeons,”  from  the  myriads  of  these  birds  which  make  their 
homes  in  the  clefts  and  caves  of  its  steep  sides,  it  was  in 
the  generation  before  Christ  the  scene  of  one  of  the  most 
daring  feats  of  Herod  the  Great,  when  governing  Galilee 
for  his  father.  The  slope  on  which  we  had  looked  down 
from  Ilattin  ends  in  precipitous  cliffs,  little  suspected  till 
one  sees  them  from  below,  and  it  is  thus  cut  off  from 
the  lake  by  a  great  gorge  or  chasm,  with  upright  walls 
more  than  1,000  feet  high.  On  the  southern  edge  of  this 
ravine  lies  Irbid,  now  in  ruins,  but  once  a  great  Jewish 
town,  as  is  seen  from  the  remains  of  a  splendid  syna¬ 
gogue.  In  the  high  walls  of  rock  on  the  northern  side  a 
great  number  of  small  caves  are  to  be  seen,  protected  in 
some  cases,  for  purposes  of  defence,  by  walls  across  their 
mouths.  It  is  chiefly  in  these  that  the  pigeons  live,  but  they 
are  also  the  nesting-place  of  great  numbers  of  vultures, 
ravens,  and  eagles,  who  may  at  all  times  be  seen  high  in 
the  air,  wheeling  overhead,  on  the  watch  for  prey  or  carrion. 

In  the  terribly  troubled  times  of  the  last  Hyrcanus 

1  Luke  viii.  2  ;  Mark  xv.  41. 


330 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


these  caves  were  the  retreat  of  great  numbers  of  Jewish 
zealots,  who  were  furious  at  the  presence  of  Antipater  the 
Edomite  in  the  council-chamber  of  the  king,  and  wished 
to  re-establish  a  pure  theocracy.  It  was  in  vain  to  hope 
for  the  pacification  of  the  country  while  these  religious 
enthusiasts  had  such  a  natural  stronghold,  from  which 
they  could  rally  at  will  to  disturb  the  government. 
Gathering  together  such  a  force  as  he  could,  therefore, 
Herod,  then  in  his  prime,  marched  from  Sepphoris,  which 
he  had  already  taken,  to  the  top  of  the  cliffs,  where  he  was 
met  and  well-nigh  overpowered.  But  he  was  not  to  be 
daunted.  The  caves  could  not  be  reached  from  below,  the 
rock  stretching  beneath  them  in  perpendicular  precipices  of 
immense  depth.  They  must,  therefore,  be  attacked  from 
above,  and  to  this  end  he  caused  a  large  number  of  huge 
“cages,”  strongly  bound  with  iron,  to  be  made,  and  having 
filled  them  with  soldiers,  let  them  down  by  chains  from 
the  top  till  they  reached  the  mouths  of  the  nearest  caves. 
The  troops  were  armed,  not  only  with  their  swords  and 
spears,  but  with  long  hooks  to  pull  out  such  as  resisted 
and  throw  them  down  the  rocks.  By  this  means,  and 
by  landing  where  there  was  footing,  their  success,  though 
gradual,  was  in  the  end  complete.  In  many  caves  enough 
combustible  material  was  found  to  fill  the  whole  interior 
space  with  suffocating  smoke,  and  this  helped  the  terrible 
work,  till,  at  last,  many  threw  themselves  headlong  into 
the  abyss  below.  One  old  man  flung  down  his  wife  and 
seven  children,  and  lastly  himself,  and  then  the  survivors 
submitted.1  To  win  such  a  victory  was  wonderful,  for  the 
caves  are  in  many  cases  of  great  extent,  and  were  well 
fortified,  besides  being  connected  by  galleries,  and  provided 
with  water  from  numerous  cisterns.  In  later  times  peace¬ 
ful  hermits  took  up  their  abode  in  them. 

1  Jos.  Ant.,  xv.  3,  6;  Bell.,  i.  16,  4. 


XLIV.] 


THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE. 


331 


The  Plain  of  Gennesaret  begins  at  Magdala,  and  runs 
to  the  north,  as  I  have  said,  for  about  three  miles,  with  a 
depth  of  about  a  mile  at  its  widest  part.  Plat  near  the 
shore,  it  is  shut  in  by  low,  rounded  hills,  which  are  at 
some  points  half  a  mile,  at  others  a  mile,  in  the  back¬ 
ground.  Ploughed  land  stretches  here  and  there  up  the 
slopes  of  valleys,  which  in  some  cases  show  copings  of 
basalt  above.  The  cliffs  of  Arbela,  or  Hamam,  look  from 
a  distance  very  much  like  the  crags  at  Arthur’s  Seat,  near 
Edinburgh :  the  same  perpendicular  wall  above ;  the  same 
masses  of  broken  rock  making  a  steep  slope  below.  The 
plain  itself  is  quite  uncultivated  and  waste,  and  so  is  the 
gentle  rise  behind,  which  to  the  west  has  a  background  of 
high  conical  hills.  So  complete  is  the  solitude  of  the 
whole  region,  that  Tiberias  and  the  wretched  Magdala  are 
the  only  inhabited  places  on  the  whole  lake,  although  in 
the  days  of  our  Lord  nine  towns  and  many  villages,  all 
populous,  were  found  on  its  shores  or  on  the  hill-sides 
behind.  At  the  north  end  is  a  khan,  or  resting-place  for 
travellers — Khan  Minieli — one  of  many  which  are  found 
on  the  great  caravan-track  between  Damascus  and  Egypt ; 
Khan  Tujjar,  a  short  day’s  journey  south,  being  the  next; 
while  four  miles  to  the  north  is  Khan  Yusef.  Between 
Magdala  and  Khan  Minieh  lies  Gennesaret ;  a  path  along 
the  shore  leading  down  to  Tiberias,  sometimes  almost  on 
a  level  with  the  water,  at  others  winding  along  the  face  or 
over  the  tops  of  the  knolls  and  low  hills,  but  always 
close  to  the  lake. 

Ko  Christian  could  look  upon  the  landscape  around 
without  emotion.  The  plain  stretches  away  in  all  its 
potential  loveliness,  set  in  a  frame  of  green  hills,  the 
peaks  and  varying  outlines  to  the  south  and  south-west 
adding  not  a  little  to  the  charm  of  the  scene.  It  must 
have  been  beautiful  indeed  when  human  industry  developed 


332 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AKD  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


tlie  wealth  of  nature,  and  turned  the  whole  surface  into  a 
blooming  paradise.  Its  Hebrew  name,  Gennesaret,  was 
fondly  explained  by  the  Rabbis  as  meaning  “  a  Garden  for 
Princes,”  but  it  seems  really  to  be  connected  with  the  Old 
Testament  name  Cliinnereth,  or  Cliinneroth,1  which  was 
given  to  the  plain  possibly  because  the  rushing  sound  of 
its  brooks  resembled  the  vibrations  of  a  harp ;  as  it  may 
have  been  given  to  the  lake  from  the  name  of  some 
ancient  town  on  the  plain,  or  perhaps  from  the  shores 
having  a  harp-like  shape.  Josephus  has  bequeathed  to 
us  an  enthusiastic  description  of  its  fertility  in  the  time 
of  our  Lord.  It  was  “admirable,”  he  tells  us,  “both 
for  its  natural  properties  and  its  beauty.”  “  Such,”  he 
adds,  “  is  the  richness  of  the  soil,  that  every  kind  of 
plant  grows  in  it,  and  all  kinds  are,  therefore,  cultivated 
by  the  husbandman.  W alnut-trees,  which  need  cool¬ 
ness,  grow  in  rich  luxuriance  alongside  the  palm,  which 
flourishes  only  in  hot  places,  and  near  these  are  figs  and 
olives,  which  call  for  a  more  temperate  air.  There  is,  as 
it  were,  an  ambitious  effort  of  nature  to  gather  to  one 
spot  whatever  is  elsewhere  opposed,  and  the  very  seasons 
appear  as  if  they  were  in  a  generous  rivalry,  each  claiming 
the  district  for  its  own  ;  for  it  not  only  has  the  strange 
virtue  of  producing  fruits  of  opposite  climes,  but  main¬ 
tains  a  continual  supply  of  them,  the  soil  yielding  them 
not  once  in  the  year,  but  at  the  most  various  times. 
Thus  the  royal  fruits,  the  grape  and  the  fig,  ripen  for  ten 
months  of  the  year  continuously,  while  the  other  kinds 
ripen  beside  them  all  the  year  round.”2  In  those  days 
universal  irrigation  aided  these  wondrous  efforts  of  nature, 
and  four  permanent  brooks,  at  times  swollen  to  torrents, 
still  wind  over  the  surface  and  enter  the  lake,  showing 
the  ample  means  at  hand  for  turning  the  whole  into  a 

1  Deut.  iii.  17  ;  Josh.  xi.  2;  xii.  3;  xiii.  27.  2  Jos.  Bell.,  iii.  10,  8. 


XLIY.] 


THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE. 


333 


“  watered  garden.”  The  fruit  of  Gennesaret  was  the 
glory  of  the  land,  and  its  wheat  the  finest. 

Over  this  Eden-like  landscape  our  Lord  often  wandered. 
Its  palm-groves,  its  fig-trees  with  intertwining  vines,  its 
soft  murmuring  brooks,  its  lilies,  and  countless  flowers  of 
other  kinds,  the  deep  blue  of  the  lake,  the  brown  tilth  of 
the  neighbouring  slopes,  the  waving  gold  of  their  har¬ 
vest  ripeness,  must  often  have  calmed  His  soul  when  He 
was  disturbed  by  the  waywardness  of  man.  To  the 
heights  behind  He  must  often  have  wandered  when  the 
stars  had  come  forth,  to  spend  the  night  in  lonely  devo¬ 
tion.1  In  the  streets  and  open  spaces  of  towns  and  villages 
long  since  vanished,  He  must  often  have  had  the  sick 
brought  to  Him  in  the  cool  of  the  evening,  that  He 
might  heal  them.2  His  voice  must  often  have  sounded 
through  the  clear  air  from  His  boat-pulpit  on  the  strand, 
or  in  the  concourse  of  men,  proclaiming  as  “  one  who  had 
authority  ”  the  doctrines  of  His  new  spiritual  kingdom.3 
Perhaps  it  was  at  the  very  spot  where  I  stood  that  He 
revealed  Himself  after  His  resurrection  to  Peter  and 
Thomas,  Nathanael,  the  sons  of  Zebedee,  and  two  others 
of  His  disciples,4  when  they  saw  someone  in  the  grey  of 
the  morning  on  the  beach,  as  they  rowed  to  the  shore 
after  a  night  spent  in  fruitless  toil.  Man  and  nature  were 
still  hushed  in  the  quiet  of  the  dawn  when  He  addressed 
these  disciples  as  His  “  children,”  bidding  them  cast  their 
net  into  the  lake  once  more.  And  now  it  encloses  a 
shoal,  so  that  “  they  were  not  able  to  draw  in  ”  the 
widely-stretched  meshes  “  for  the  multitude  of  fishes,” 
and  John  at  once  whispered  to  Peter,  “  It  is  the  Lord.” 
One  could  think  of  the  warm-hearted,  impetuous  Simon, 
as  he  heard  such  words,  girding  around  him  the  “  abba  ” 

1  Mark  vi.  46.  3  Mark  ii.  1 6. 

2  Mark  i.  22.  4  John  xxi.  2  ff. 


334 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


which  he  had  laid  aside  to  struggle  the  better  with  the 
net,  and  casting  himself  into  the  lake  to  wade  ashore 
to  Him  whom  he  so  much  loved ;  while  his  companions 
came  more  leisurely,  rowing  and  poling,  as  they  dragged 
the  net  with  them,  till  they  ran  their  boat  up  the  smooth, 
shelly  strand.  With  what  followed  we  are  all  familiar, 
ending  as  it  did  with  the  ever-memorable,  thrice-repeated, 
“  Lovest  thou  Me  ?  ”  and  the  touching  answer,  “  Lord, 
Thou  knowest  all  things;  Thou  knowest  that  I  love 
Thee” 

Our  boatmen  did  not  row  together,  nor  did  they  sit, 
their  invariable  habit  being  to  stand,  with  one  foot  on  the 
seat  to  give  them  more  power.  It  was  curious  to  notice 
that  their  feet,  never  cramped  by  shoes,  were  much  broader 
at  the  toes  than  at  the  instep ;  so  different  is  the  natural 
shape  of  the  foot  from  that  which  our  hard  leather  coverings 
produce.  Striking  out  in  a  straight  line  to  save  a  deep  bend, 
we  now  got  a  good  way  from  the  land,  keeping  towards 
Tell  Hum,  which  lies  on  the  shore,  about  two  miles  and  a 
half  south-west  of  the  entrance  of  the  Jordan  into  the  lake. 
Sometimes  rowing,  sometimes  sailing,  the  whole  landscape 
on  both  sides  was  within  view.  On  the  east,  the  table¬ 
land,  sinking  precipitously  to  the  water,  was  scooped  into 
terraces  and  hollows,  and  seamed  with  deep  gullies  and 
ravines,  down  which  the  wind  often  rushes  with  terrible 
force  from  the  uplands  above,  which  stretch  away  to  the 
Euphrates.  Sir  Charles  Wilson  encountered  just  such  a 
sudden  storm — though  from  the  west — as  swept  down  long 
ago  on  the  boat  in  which  Christ  lay  asleep,  while  His  dis¬ 
ciples  were  wrestling  with  the  winds  and  the  waves.1  “  The 
morning,”  Sir  Charles  tells  us,  “  was  delightful ;  a  gentle 
easterly  breeze,  and  not  a  cloud  in  the  sky  to  give  warning 
of  what  was  coming.  Suddenly,  about  midday,  there  was 
1  Matt,  v'ii.  24;  Mark  iv.  37;  Luke  viii.  23. 


XLIY.] 


THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE. 


335 


a  sound  of  distant  thunder,  and  a  small  cloud,  *  no  bigger 
than  a  man’s  hand,’  was  seen  rising  over  the  heights  of 
Lubieh,  to  the  west.  In  a  few  moments  the  cloud  appeared 
to  spread,  and  heavy  black  masses  came  rolling  down  the 
hills,  towards  the  lake,  completely  obscuring  Tiberias  and 
Hattin.  At  this  moment  the  breeze  died  away,  there 
were  a  few  minutes  of  perfect  calm,  during  which  the  sun 
shone  out  with  intense  power,  and  the  surface  of  the  lake 
was  smooth  and  even  as  a  mirror;  Tiberias,  Mejdel,  and 
other  buildings  stood  out,  in  sharp  relief,  from  the  gloom 
behind  ;  but  they  were  soon  lost  sight  of,  as  the  thunder- 
gust  swept  past  them  and,  rapidly  advancing  across  the 
lake,  lifted  the  placid  water  into  a  bright  sheet  of  foam. 
In  another  moment  it  reached  the  ruins  of  Gamala,  on  the 
eastern  hills,  driving  myself  and  my  companion  to  take 
refuge  in  a  cistern,  where,  for  nearly  an  hour,  we  were 
confined,  listening  to  the  rattling  peals  of  thunder  and 
torrents  of  rain.  The  effect  of  half  the  lake  in  perfect 
rest,  whilst  the  other  half  was  in  wild  confusion,  was  ex¬ 
tremely  grand.  It  would  have  fared  ill  with  any  light  craft 
caught  in  mid-lake  by  the  storm,  and  we  could  not  help 
thinking  of  that  memorable  occasion  on  which  the  storm 
is  so  graphically  described  as  ‘  coming  down  ’  upon  the 
lake.”1  Just  such  a  tempest,  indeed,  as  I  have  already 
noted,  I  had  myself  seen  when  descending  from  Hattin 
to  Tiberias ;  and  the  night  that  followed,  with  its  wild 
carnival  of  wind  and  rain,  was  still  worse.  But,  like  the 
storm  seen  by  Sir  Charles  Wilson,  it  soon  spent  its  fury, 
leaving  the  morning  to  rise  bright  and  beautiful. 

Behind  Gennesaret,  the  slopes  offer  constant  illus¬ 
trations  of  the  Parable  of  the  Sower.  Some  spots  one 
could  see  where  the  good  soil  invites  the  peasant,  no  path 
running  through  it,  no  thorns  cumbering  it,  no  rock 

1  Recovery  of  Jerusalem,  p.  340. 


336 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


cropping  up,  no  stony  wreck  covering  the  ground.  Per¬ 
haps  quite  close  to  it,  a  footway  passes  across  the  patch  of 
tillage,  so  that  at  sowinsr-time  seed  must  fall  on  it  and 
be  trodden  under-foot,  or  picked  off  by  birds  ;  elsewhere, 
thorns  and  thistles  engross  much  of  the  surface,  while  at 
a  little  distance,  perhaps  a  few  rods,  the  ground  is  fairly 
bedded  with  stones,  or  the  occasional  gleam  of  the  rock 
shows  that  there  is  only  a  skin  of  earth,  not  enough  to 
nourish  the  seed.  As  we  sailed  along,  the  steersman 
whined  a  doleful  Arab  soim.  There  is  no  such  gladsome 
music  in  Palestine  as  in  Western  countries;  a  nasal  sing¬ 
song,  fit  for  a  dirge,  is  all  one  ever  hears.  I  had  some 
talk  on  the  way  with  the  dragoman1 — a  Copt — about  his 
wife.  She  had  been  bought  for  him  by  his  mother,  was 
betrothed  at  twelve,  and  married  at  fourteen.  He  could 
send  her  away  for  spoiling  his  dinner,  if  he  liked,  but 
would  have  to  pay  her  a  franc  a  day  for  her  support. 
But  Copts,  he  added,  with  a  virtuous  air,  don’t  send  their 
wives  off  in  this  way,  and  neither  husband  nor  wife  can 
marry  again  while  the  other  is  alive.  In  Palestine  service 
is  still,  at  times,  accepted  for  a  wife,  in  lieu  of  money,  as 
in  the  case  mentioned  by  Burckhardt,  that  greatest  of 
travellers,  who  met  a  young  man  in  the  Hauran  who  had 

1  “  Dragoman  ”  means  literally  “  interpreter,”  but  the  office  includes  not 
only  talking  the  language  of  the  traveller,  but  also  acting  as  head  of  his 
travelling  arrangements.  In  my  case  this  dignitary,  in  all  the  glory  of  a 
“  kefiyeli,”  was  a  young  man  employed  by  the  Tourists’  Agency  during  the 
season,  spending  the  rest  of  the  year,  as  he  told  me,  among  the  Arabs 
beyond  the  Jordan  as  a  shepherd,  or,  perhaps,  in  a  less  innocent  capacity.  He 
informed  me  that  he  had  twice  been  in  gaol,  in  irons  :  the  last  time,  quite 
recently,  for  stabbing  a  man.  He  was  lazy,  insolent,  inconceivably  ignorant, 
and,  as  a  whole,  worse  than  useless.  Anyone  intending  to  visit  Palestine 
should  try  to  secure  the  services  of  Mr.  Rolla  Eloyd,  of  Joppa,  in  my  opinion 
by  far  the  best  “  dragoman”  in  Palestine.  To  obtain  his  aid  insures  conscien¬ 
tious  lessening  of  expense  wherever  practicable,  with  the  advantage  of  having 
by  one’s  side  bright  intelligence,  minute  knowledge  of  the  Bible,  and  earnest 
desire  to  please.  Doubtless,  however,  there  are  other  excellent  guides. 


XLIV.] 


THE  SEA  OF  GALTLEE. 


337 


served  eight  years  as  a  shepherd  and  peasant  labourer,  for 
his  food  and  the  promise,  which  was  kept,  that  he  should 
after  that  time  have  the  daughter  of  his  master,  for  whom 
he  would  otherwise  have  had  to  pay  from  700  to  800 
piastres.  This  was  an  almost  exact  repetition  of  Laban’s 
bargain  with  Jacob,1  but  the  parallel  was  made  still  more 
close  by  the  young  husband  complaining  bitterly  that, 
though  he  had  now  been  married  three  years,  his  father- 
in-law  continued  to  require  him  to  do  the  most  servile 
work,  without  paying  him  anything,  and  thus  prevented 
him  from  setting  up  for  himself  and  his  family.2  Jacob’s 
experience  is  illustrated  in  another  point  by  the  fact  that 
in  modern  Egj^pt  a  father  often  objects  to  giving  away  a 
younger  daughter  till  her  elder  sister  is  married.3 

The  hills  at  the  upper  end  of  Grennesaret  are  dotted 
with  bushes  and  trees,  so  that  they  look  more  inviting 
than  those  on  the  south.  The  path  from  Khan  Minieh 
to  the  lake  runs  up  and  down  over  the  rocks  along  the 
shore,  generally  at  some  distance  above  the  water-level. 
Indeed,  at  Khan  Minieh  it  is  hewn  in  the  rocks,  climbing  a 
rough  knoll  of  black  basalt  from  that  spot  northwards,  and 
winding  along  the  face  of  the  low  cliff,  perhaps  thirty  feet 
above  the  water,  in  a  track  made,  ages  ago,  by  excavation 
and  level liug.  Here,  one  may  literally  say  that  he  is 
walking  in  the  footsteps  of  our  Lord,  for  there  is  no  other 
way  aloug  the  coast  to  get  to  Tell  Hum  by  land.  Land¬ 
ing  at  Tell  Hum,  I  found  it  a  field  of  black  basalt  ruins, 
strewn  over  a  wide  space,  but  in  great  part  hidden,  till 
you  come  close  to  them,  by  dense  clumps  of  thistles  and 
other  huge  wild  growths.  A  moment’s  glance  shows  it  to 
have  been  a  considerable  place,  for  there  are  great  squared 
stones  in  every  direction,  belonging  no  doubt  to  public 

1  Gen.  xxix.  18.  2  Gen.  xxxi.  7,  39—42.  Burckhardt,  Syria ,  p.  298. 

3  Lane,  Modern  Eyyptians,  i.  197. 


W 


338 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


\ 


buildings  or  the  houses  of  rich  men,  for  the  ordinary 
houses  of  the  common  people  must  long  ago  have  entirely 
perished.  Everywhere,  as  far  as  the  slope  of  the  hill 
behind,  the  ground  was  sown  with  the  wreck  of  a  brilliant 
past,  though  kind  nature  strove  hard  by  its  rank  herb¬ 
age  to  conceal  the  melancholy  sight.  But  when  the  hot 
summer  burns  up  the  grass  and  shrivels  the  weeds,  so 
that  the  ground  is  visible  throughout,  the  most  cursory 
view  of  the  extent  of  the  desolation  must  be  very  striking. 
Close  to  the  water,  on  a  slightly  projecting  point,  are 
some  ruins,  perhaps  of  a  castle,  possibly  of  a  church  : 
now  roughly  covered  in  as  a  shelter  for  sheep  or  goats. 
Foundations  run  hither  and  thither  in  every  direction,  the 
ground  between  them  swollen  into  mounds  by  the  ruins 
below.  The  site,  as  a  whole,  slopes  gently  upwards  over 
a  wide  space  to  the  hills,  the  side  towards  the  lake 
rising  into  a  slight  bank.  The  walls  of  the  ruins  near 
the  lake  are  adorned  with  pillars,  but  they  rise  only 
from  fifteen  to  twenty  feet  above  the  soil.  The  heights 
on  the  west,  seen  from  this  point,  run  in  softly-rounded 
outline  towards  the  upper  end  of  the  Lake,  and  were 
covered  with  green.  To  the  south,  the  lake  spread  be¬ 
fore  me  almost  to  its  lower  extremity.  On  the  east,  the 
table-land  rose,  from  a  fringe  of  verdure  along  the  shore, 
in  high,  slanting  walls  of  rock,  here  and  there  green,  and 
worn  into  clefts  or  gullies  in  every  direction.  A  little 
back  from  the  shore  lie  some  ruins  which  especially 
attract  attention  :  colossal  squared  stones,  finely  carved, 
of  white  crystallised  limestone  brought  from  a  distance 
— once  the  frieze,  architrave,  and  cornices  of  a  magnificent 
synagogue.  The  Jews  could  not  have  built  such  a  sanc¬ 
tuary  except  at  a  time  when  they  were  numerous  and 
rich,  which  they  ceased  to  be  very  soon  after  our  Lord’s 
day,  so  that  I  may  perhaps  have  looked  on  the  very 


XLIV.]  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE.  339 

prayer-house  in  which  He  often  worshipped.  It  has, 
indeed,  been  thought  by  some  that  these  stones  may  have 
belonged  to  the  very  synagogue  built  by  the  godly  cen¬ 
turion  from  love  to  Israel.1 

Tell  Hum  has  been  accepted  by  some  of  the  officers 
employed  in  Palestine  and  others  as  the  site  of  Caper¬ 
naum,  but  the  question  can  hardly  be  regarded  as  settled. 
Yet  there  is  much  to  he  said  for  this  belief.  The  name, 
it  is  alleged,  is  an  abbreviation  for  Nahum,  Capernaum 
meaning  “  the  Village  of  Nahum  the  Prophet  ” — for  Kefr 
means  a  village.  This  may  he  correct,  since,  as  we  have 
seen,  the  Jews  lived  in  Tiberias  for  centuries  after  the 
fall  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  tradition  appears  to  have  been 
derived  from  them.  It  is  also  said  that  at  the  time  of 
Constantine,  Capernaum  had  an  exclusively  Jewish  popu¬ 
lation,  with  many  Jews  among  them  who  were  counted 
heretics  by  their  brethren,  from  their  believing  in  Christ 
while  still  following  Moses  also,  like  the  Jewish  Christians 
of  the  Epistles.  If  this  spot  be  Capernaum,  the  words 
of  Christ,  that  it  “  should  he  cast  down  into  hades,” 
though  then,  in  its  own  opinion,  “exalted  into  heaven,”2 
are  very  literally  fulfilled.  A  few  oleanders,  with  pink 
flowers,  on  the  edge  of  the  lake,  wild  beans  growing  here 
and  there,  and  flowers  in  odd  spots,  were  the  sole  relief  to 
the  lonely  sadness. 

Returning  to  the  boat,  to  which  I  was  carried  on  the 
back  of  one  of  the  boatmen  through  the  water-plants  and 
the  shallow  edge  of  the  lake,  we  rowed  north-west  towards 
the  place  where  the  Jordan  enters,  and  which  we  found  to 
be  a  swampy  flat  of  rich  green,  the  delight  of  black,  flat- 
headed  buffaloes,  which  have  horns  curiously  bent  along 
the  sides  of  the  head.  On  the  other  side,  beyond  the 
marsh,  a  green  valley  ran  up  among  the  hills  :  the  wide 
1  Luke  vii.  5.  2  Matt.  xi.  23. 

W  2 


340 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


meadow  where  our  Lord  fed  the  thousands  who  wished 
to  take  Him  by  force  and  make  Him  king.1  At  the  head 
of  this  valley  stood  Bethsaida  Julias,  once  a  humble 
village,  hut  in  Christ’s  childhood  transformed  into  a  fine 
city  by  Herod  Philip,  the  one  good  son  in  the  worthless 
family  of  Herod  the  Great.  It  was  dignified  with  the 
name  of  Julias  in  honour  of  the  daughter  of  Augustus, 
hut  its  ruins  consist  of  only  a  few  fragments  of  basalt, 
though  these  have  an  imperishable  interest  from  the  con¬ 
nection  of  the  town  with  some  of  the  miracles  of  our 
Lord.2  They  lie  above  the  plain  and  slopes  of  the  Batihah, 
where  the  multitude,  while  being  fed  with  the  bread  that 
perisheth,  were  told  of  the  true  bread  that  cometh  down 
from  heaven.  Christ  was  then  on  His  way  to  Caesarea 
Philippi. 

The  tomb  of  the  mild  and  just  Philip  once  stood  in 
Bethsaida  Julias,  but  it  has  long  since  disappeared.  This 
was  the  prince  who  married  Salome,  infamous  for  her 
share  in  the  murder  of  John  the  Baptist.  Philip  had 
lived  a  bachelor  till  he  became  an  elderly  man,  and 
then  he  fell  in  love  with  the  daughter  of  Herodias  and 
his  half-brother  Philip  of  Jerusalem — a  girl  a  little  over 
fourteen  when  she  became  the  wife  of  the  old  man.  The 
birthday  feast  of  Herod  Antipas,  at  which  she  danced 
with  such  fatal  result,  took  place  shortly  before  her 
marriage,  and,  as  her  husband  died  in  a.d.  33,  only  a 
few  years  after  the  Baptist’s  death,  she  must  have  been 
still  quite  a  girl  when  left  a  widow.  Philip,  in  fact,  was 
more  than  three  times  as  old  as  his  bride.  Salome  was 
then,  apparently,  a  favourite  name,  for  it  was  borne  by  a 
sister,  a  daughter,  and  a  granddaughter  of  Herod  the 
Great,  and  it  was  also  given  to  a  sister  of  Mary,  the 
mother  of  our  Lord. 

1  Jolm  vi.  15.  2  Matt.  xii.  21;  Mark  viii.  22—26. 


XL  IV.] 


THE  SEA  OE  GALILEE. 


341 


Turning  tlie  boat’s  head,  at  last,  towards  Khan  Minieli, 
where  our  tents  awaited  us,  we  ran  close  alongshore  as  we 
came  near  it.  Just  before  we  landed,  one  of  the  boatmen, 
a  splendid  fellow,  taking  off  his  loose  cotton  trousers  and 
long  jacket  so  that  only  his  shirt  remained,  stepped  into 
the  water  at  a  spot  where  the  low  edge  was  thick  with 
hushes  of  all  kinds,  the  boat  for  the  time  lying  still. 
Taking  with  him  a  round  net,  hung  about  at  its  edges 
with  small  leaden  weights,  and  wading  ashore,  he  gathered 
the  meshes  carefully  into  one  hand,  so  that  the  weights 
hung  free  beneath,  and  creeping  along  the  shore  under 
cover  of  the  bushes  till  he  came  to  a  little  bend  in  the 
water,  he  then,  in  a  moment,  flung  out  the  net  with  a 
whirl  which  spread  it  like  a  circle,  the  lead  causing  it 
instantly  to  sink.  Four  fishes — like  good-sized  perch — 
were  his  reward.  The  process  was  several  times  renewed, 
at  different  points  near  each  other,  till  he  had  caught  as 
man}r  as  he  wished.  The  net  was  not  drawn  in,  the  fish 
being*  lifted  from  below  it  while  it  lav  at  the  bottom  of  the 
shallow  water.  It  would  be  difficult,  therefore,  to  identify 
it  with  any  of  the  nets  mentioned  in  the  Gospels.  There 
is  another  kind  of  net,  however,  in  use  on  the  lake,  and 
this  also  is  cast  by  one  man  into  the  water,  although 
larger  than  the  one  used  by  our  boatman.  The  fisherman, 
stripping  himself  quite  naked,  swims  out  as  far  as  he 
thinks  fit,  drops  his  net,  and  then  returns  with  it,  hold¬ 
ing  the  cords  at  the  sides.  In  this  way  a  few  fishes  are 
easily  caught  in  waters  so  well  stocked.  There  is,  indeed, 
no  end  of  wealth  in  the  lake,  if  proper  fisheries  were  estab¬ 
lished,  for  the  shoals  are  so  great  as  frequently  to  cover 
an  acre  or  more  of  the  surface,  the  back  fins  ruffling  the 
water  like  heavy  raindrops  as  they  move  slowly  along, 
close  to  the  surface. 

The  large  net — the  “  sagene  ”  of  the  New  Testament, 


342 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


and  our  seine — is  not  now,  so  far  as  I  know,  in  use,  but 
it  must,  one  would  think,  have  been  that  used  for  the 
miraculous  draughts  in  the  Gospel.  The  word  under¬ 
stood  to  mean  a  casting-net  is  found  in  only  two  places  ; 
neither  of  them  connected  with  these  miracles.1  It  is, 
at  any  rate,  certain  that  the  apostles  used  different 
kinds,  for  while  Peter  and  Andrew  are  in  one  verse  said 
to  have  been  busy  casting  one  kind  of  net  into  the  sea, 
James  and  John  are  described  two  verses  afterwards  as 
mending  another  kind  in  their  boat ;  2  and,  including  the 
two  cases  of  miraculous  draughts,  this  second  kind  is  twelve 
times  mentioned.3  But  it  is  hard  to  dogmatise  on  the 
subject,  for  Mark  describes  Peter  and  Andrew  as  casting  a 
net  of  the  first  kind  and  leaving  nets  of  the  second,4  while 
the  seine  is  only  spoken  of  once,  when  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  compared  to  a  net5 6 — the  one  here  intended 
being,  no  doubt,  the  largest  in  use.  My  boatman,  as  I 
have  said,  kept  on  his  shirt,  but  as '  it  was  tucked  up 
round  him,  he  was  really  naked.  Men  such  as  he  com¬ 
monly  work  at  their  craft  entirely  nude,  except  for  a  skull¬ 
cap  of  thick  felt.  But  we  need  not  suppose  that  Peter  did 
more,  when  he  girt  his  coat  round  him,1  than  to  put  his 
“  abba  ”  over  his  inner  tunic  ;  for  one  can  hardly  imagine 
that,  amid  a  population  so  dense  as  that  round  the  lake 
in  those  days,  men  carried  on  their  work  in  a  state  of 
absolute  nudity.  Perhaps  the  expression  “  naked  ”  is  used 
as  Virgil  uses  it  in  his  counsel  to  the  ploughmen  to  work, 
as  we  might  say,  “  in  their  shirt-sleeves,”  for  this  is 
what  he  means.  Yet  Boman  games  were  exhibited  in 

1  Matt.  iv.  18 ;  Mark  i.  16. 

2  Matt.  iv.  18,  21. 

3  Matt.  iv.  20,  21 ;  Mark  i.  18,  19 ;  Luke  v.  2,  4,  5,  6  ;  John  xxi.  6,  8, 11. 

4  Mark  i.  16,  ]8. 

5  Matt.  xiii.  47.  The  three  words  are  a/j.(p'i^\r](rTpou,  Siktuov,  and  aay^vr]. 

6  John  xxi.  7. 


XLIV.] 


THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE. 


343 


Christ’s  day,  even  at  Jerusalem,  in  which  the  men  who 
took  part  in  them  before  great  bodies  of  spectators  of  both 
sexes  were  entirely  naked ;  so  that  we  must  not  measure 
ancient  ideas  by  our  own.  On  the  Egyptian  monuments, 
moreover,  fishermen  using  nets  are  naked. 

The  net  once  drawn  to  shore,  its  contents  are  examined 
to  see  what  fish  are  too  small  and  what  are  inedible — all 
such  being  thrown  back  into  the  sea,  as  was  the  custom 
in  our  Lord’s  day.1  Then,  however,  the  “  bad  ”  were 
chiefly  those  reckoned  unclean,  which  meant  all  that  had 
not  fins  and  scales  :2  a  distinction  that  may  perhaps  be 
accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  in  Egypt,  from  which 
the  Elebrevvs  came,  fish  without  scales  are  generally  un¬ 
wholesome.3  By  the  way,  did  the  Jews  eat  beetles  ? 
Egyptian  women  do,4  and  Leviticus  says  that  the  Hebrews 
were  free  to  eat  the  locust  after  his  kind,  and  the  bald 
locust  after  his  kind,  and  the  beetle  after  his  kind,  and 
the  grasshopper  after  his  kind.5  But,  I  apprehend,  the 
translation  should  rather  be — “  the  flying  locust,  the  kind 
known  as  ‘  the  destroyer,’  the  leaping  locust,  and  the 
young  locust.”  One  other  Egyptian  custom  strikes  me 
as  throwing  light  on  Mosaic  ordinances.  Women  are 
“  unclean  ”  in  Egypt  for  forty  days  after  childbirth : 
Moses  ordered  that  they  should  be  reckoned  unclean  for 
forty  days  after  the  birth  of  a  son,  and  eighty  days  after 
that  of  a  daughter.6 

1  Matt.  xiii.  48.  4  Ibid.,  i.  238. 

2  Lev.  xi.  9 — 12.  5  Lev.  xi.  22. 

3  Lane,  Modern  Egyptians,  i.  197.  6  Lev.  xii.  2,  4,  5. 


CHAPTER  XLY. 


KHAN  MINIEH,  KHERSA,  CHORAZIN. 

Ivhan  Minieh  is  in  a  beautiful  green  plain,  with  a  low  crag 
on  its  northern  side,  and  a  copious  spring  spreading  beneath 
it  into  a  pool  and  marsli,  in  which  there  still  grows  the 
papyrus — a  word  which  is  the  ancestor  of  our  “  paper.” 
This  wonderful  reed  rises  slim  and  tall,  with  a  reddisli- 
hrown  tuft  at  the  top,  and  at  this  spot  is  very  plentiful. 
So  also  are  the  gigantic  reeds  which  shake  in  every  breath 
of  wind,1  as  they  well  may,  for  they  are  ten  or  twelve 
feet  high.  We  had  hardly  settled  in  our  tents  before  a 
caravan  of  Greek  Church  pilgrims  from  Damascus,  about 
500  in  number,  made  its  appearance,  and  took  up  its 
quarters  on  the  green  space  beside  us.  Tents  rose  as 
if  by  magic,  and  were  speedily  tilled  with  men,  women, 
and  children ;  for  if  a  child  is  taken  to  the  holy  places, 
and  especially  to  the  Jordan,  it  is  saved  from  the  neces¬ 
sity  of  making  the  journey  at  a  later  period.  Mules, 
horses,  and  asses  were  presently  picketed,  far  and  near ; 
tires  of  thistles  and  thorns  were  kindled,  and  meals  cooked 
and  eaten.  Groups  gathered  around  the  pleasant  blaze  as 
the  night  fell ;  singing,  in  one  place  to  the  clapping  of 
hands,  in  another  to  taps  on  a  copper  ewer  made  to  serve 
as  a  drum,  in  a  third  to  the  thrum  of  an  asthmatic 
guitar  with  little  more  sound  than  a  child’s  penny 
organ.  But  clapping  hands  in  chorus  to  the  singing  was 

1  Matt.  xi.  7;  Luke  vii.  24 


Chap.  XLV.]  KHAN  MINIEH,  KHERSA,  CHORAZIN. 


345 


most  common.  The  women  sat  among  the  men  ;  and  very 
merry  they  all  were.  Religious  pilgrimages  may  have  a 
strain  of  seriousness,  hut  it  is  well-nigh  lost  to  the  com¬ 
mon  eye  in  riotous  jollity,  far  from  divine.  It  was  a  wild 
scene  ;  not  helpful  to  morals,  I  fear.  Shouting,  and  firing 
of  guns  and  pistols,  went  on  incessantly  till  late  at  night, 
and  then  many  persons  lay  down  on  the  open  ground, 
since  the  tents  could  not  hold  all;  not  a  few  sleeping 
among  the  horses,  asses,  and  mules.  It  seemed,  however,  as 
if  the  noise  would  never  cease.  Long  after  I  had  hoped 
the  madness  was  over  volley,  after  volley  was  discharged, 
each  followed  by  wild  cries  from  all  around ;  and  even  at 
the  last,  when  1  was  fairly  tired  out,  loud  recitals  of  stories 
were  going  on  round  some  of  the  fires  ;  one  leading,  and 
the  rest  repeating  the  same  chorus  over  and  over  after  every 
second  line.  Was  this  scene — of  course  without  the  firing, 
for  which  the  blowing  of  horns  might  he  substituted — like 
that  presented  by  the  Passover  caravans  in  Bible  times  ? 

Khan  Minieh  has  been  thought  by  some  to  he  the  true 
site  of  the  city  of  Capernaum — Christ’s  own  city.  It  is 
certain  that  extensive  ruins  are  hidden  below  its  green 
sward,  for  the  peasants  find  it  profitable  to  dig  to  the 
depth  of  from  eight  to  twelve  feet  into  the  mounds  that  dot 
the  locality,  for  stones,  some  to  build  with,  others  to  burn 
into  lime.  In  these  excavations  rounded  stones  are  first 
met,  but  below  them,  four  feet  or  more  from  the  surface, 
foundations  of  walls  occur,  built  in  some  cases  of  finely- 
squared  blocks  of  limestone.  Pottery  and  remains  of  other 
kinds  are  also  found.  The  arguments  in  favour  of  Capernaum 
having  been  here,  rather  than  at  Tell  Hum,  are  various. 
Both  it  and  Bethsaida  are  believed  to  have  been  in  or  near 
to  the  Plain  of  Gennesaret,  because  when  our  Lord,  in 
crossing  the  lake  after  the  miraculous  feeding,  would  have 
come  to  Bethsaida  and  the  wind  prevented  Him,  He  was 


346 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


forced  to  come  asliore  in  “  the  land  of  Gennesaret ;  ”  the 
Gospel  adding  that  the  Jews  who  followed  Him  came 
next  day  and  found  Him  in  Capernaum.1  A  fountain  of 
Capernaum,  spoken  of  by  Josephus  as  in  the  tract  of 
Gennesaret,  is  thought  to  have  been  the  Ain-el-Tin  at 
Khan  Minieli,  especially  since  he  says  that  it  was 
thought  to  be  connected  with  the  Egyptian  Nile,  from 
having  in  it  fish  like  the  coracinus  of  that  river.  In 
accordance  with  this,  Dr.  Tristram  tells  us  that  he  found 
in  the  Hound  Fountain  of  Ain  Mudawarah,  about  a  mile 
north  of  Magdala  and  half  a  mile  back  from  the  lake,  at 
the  foot  of  the  hills,  a  fish  “  like  that  of  the  lake  near 
Alexandria.”  “  A  cat-fish,”  he  adds,  “  identical  with  the 
cat-fish  of  the  ponds  of  Lower  Egypt,  does  abound  to  a 
remarkable  degree  in  the  Hound  Spring,  to  this  day.”  In 
fact,  he  obtained  specimens  of  it  a  yard  long.2  Josephus, 
moreover,  speaks  of  a  village  of  Capernaum  as  in  this 
vicinity.  Tell  Hum,  it  is  argued,  cannot  be  said  to  be  in 
ec  the  land  of  Gennesaret,”  for  it  is  three  miles  off  to  the 
north-east,  and  there  is  no  fountain  of  any  kind  there  ; 
the  ancient  town  which  once  stood  on  the  spot  having 
obtained  its  supply  of  water  entirely  from  the  lake. 
There  was,  besides,  a  custom-house  at  Capernaum,3  and  a 
Homan  garrison,4  which  would  be  quite  natural  at  Khan 
Minieli,  where  a  Homan  road  comes  down  to  the  lake  from 
the  north,  but  which  could  not  be  found  at  Tell  Hum, 
where  there  was  no  Homan  road,  and  where  the  frontier 
was  three  miles  off. 

There  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  the  true  site,  whether 
here  or  at  Tell  Hum,  was  still  known  in  the  fourth  cen¬ 
tury,  when  a  church  was  built  upon  it ;  but  its  position 

1  John  vi.  21,  22,  59 ;  Matt.  xiv.  34;  Mark  vi.  53. 

2  Land  of  Israel ,  p.  442. 

3  Matt.  ix.  9.  4  Matt.  viii.  5. 


XL V.]  KHAN  MINIEH,  KHERSA,  CHORAZIN.  347 

lias  been  doubtful  now  for  many  centuries,  so  complete 
has  been  the  ruin  of  this  once  flourishing  region.  The 
scene  of  our  Lord’s  home  for  the  last  three  years  of 
His  life,  where  so  many  of  His  mighty  works  were  per¬ 
formed,  and  so  great  a  proportion  of  His  wondrous  words 
spoken,  would  surely,  it  might  have  been  thought,  be  kept 
permanently  in  memory  by  successive  generations  of  His 
disciples.  Yet  it  has  utterly  passed  away,  leaving  it  to  con¬ 
jecture  and  argument  to  fix  its  situation.  The  Jews  have 
clung  to  Tiberias,  but  Christians  have  allowed  Capernaum 
to  be  utterly  forgotten,  except  for  the  pages  of  the  Gospel. 
In  this  virtual  disappearance  of  a  place  so  immeasurably 
dear  to  all  Christians,  may  we  not  read  the  lesson  that  the 
seen  and  the  material  are  of  little  moment  in  a  spiritual 
religion,  and  that  the  holy  places  of  our  faith  have  had  a 
veil  drawn  over  them  designedly  by  Providence,  to  turn 
our  thoughts  from  superstitious  veneration  of  the  acci¬ 
dents  of  faith  to  the  great  ideal  in  Christ  Himself? 

It  would  be  interesting  to  go  through  the  Gospels  and 
note  the  strict  correctness  of  their  allusions  to  the  scenery, 
topography,  and  customs  of  the  people  round  the  lake  in 
old  times.  We  still  go  doom  from  Cana  to  Capernaum 
Safed  is  “  a  city  set  on  an  hill,”  and  might  have  been 
pointed  to  from  Hattin  when  the  words  were  uttered,3 
though,  indeed,  almost  all  the  towns  and  villages  of  Pales¬ 
tine  are  on  hills.  The  allusions  to  the  fate  of  the  seed 
as  it  falls  from  the  hand  of  the  sower ;  to  the  merchant 
seeking  goodly  pearls  ;  to  the  fisher’s  craft  on  the  lake ; 
and  all  else  in  the  sacred  narrative,  are  always  absolutely 
true  to  nature  and  fact.  Even  apparent  contradictions  to 
what  may  be  supposed  to  be  Oriental  manners,  such  as  the 
mention  of  women  as  present  in  public,  notwithstanding 
the  usual  Eastern  seclusion  of  the  sex,3  are  true  to  life,  for 

1  Jolm  iv.  47.  2  Matt.  v.  14.  3  Matt.  xiv.  21 ;  xv.  38. 


348 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


at  this  very  day,  tlie  great  excitements  of  life — a  funeral, 
wedding,  feast,  or  market — attract  women  and  children  in 
such  numbers  that  they  often  form  the  majority  of  the 
spectators  or  participants. 

In  summer,  on  account  of  the  heat  and  moisture,  the 
shores  of  the  Lake  of  Galilee  are  very  much  troubled  with 
insects  and  similar  plagues.  The  centipede,  crawling 
from  some  heap  of  stones,  bites,  say  the  Arabs,  with  a 
result  forty  times  as  painful  as  the  spider,  for  they 
maintain  that  it  pierces  the  flesh  not  only  with  its 
jaws,  but  with  each  of  its  many  feet.  The  scorpion  may 
sting  you  as  you  lean  against  a  wall,  or  put  your  hand 
carelessly  on  a  stone  used  for  temporary  rest ;  and  very 
disagreeable  is  the  effect.  This  crab-like  member  of  the 
articulata  is  very  common  in  Palestine,  where  more  than 
eight  species  are  known.  One  place,  indeed,  mentioned  three 
times  in  the  Old  Testament,  gets  its  name  from  this  pest, 
viz.,  Maaleh  Akrabbim — “the  Scorpion  Slopes5’1 — which 
Iviepert  places  a  little  to  the  north-east  of  Shiloh.  The 
most  dangerous  variety  is  the  black  rock- scorpion,  as  thick 
as  a  finger,  and  five  or  six  inches  long ;  others  are  yel¬ 
low,  brown,  white,  red,  or  striped  and  banded.  During  cold 
weather  they  lie  dormant,  but  at  the  return  of  heat  they 
crawl  forth  from  beneath  the  stones  under  which  they 
have  lain  hidden,  or  out  of  the  crevices  of  walls,  and  chinks 
of  other  kinds,  and  make  their  way  not  only  to  the  paths 
where  men  pass,  but  into  houses,  where  they  get  below 
sleeping-mats,  carpets,  or  clothes,  or  creep  into  shoes  or 
slippers.  They  are  carnivorous  by  nature,  living  on  beetles, 
insects,  and  the  like  ;  but  they  sting  whatever  frightens  or 
irritates  them,  though  their  poison,  while  very  painful  in 
its  effects,  may  be  neutralised,  except  in  rare  cases,  by  the 
application  of  ammonia  and  sweet  oil,  or  maybe  withdrawn 

1  Nmn.  xxxiv.  4;  Josli.  xv.  3:  Judg.  i.  36. 


XLV.]  KHAN  MINIEH,  KHERSA,  C HO R AZIN.  349 

by  suction.  But  occasionally  it  causes  death.  Scorpions 
are  four  times  mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament,  twice  meta¬ 
phorically  and  twice  literally,  their  number  in  the  deserts  of 
Sinai,  which  is  still  remarkable,  being  noticed  in  one  text, 
and  their  habit  of  frequenting  desolate  and  ruinous  parts 
in  another.1 2  Ezekiel,  bitterly  persecuted,  like  all  other 
earnest  reformers  of  every  age,  was  to  be  thrust  out  to  live 
among  scorpions  ;  the  guilty  whom  he  rebuked  treating 
him  as  unfit  to  live  with  men.  Behoboam  was  foolish 
enough  to  repeat,  as  from  himself,  the  counsel  of  his  flat¬ 
terers,  threatening  to  chastise  the  Ten  Tribes  with  “  scor¬ 
pions  ”  3 — probably  a  scourge  with  sharp  metal  tips,  the 
blow  of  which  was  cruel  as  a  scorpions  sting.  In  the 
New  Testament,  the  apostles  are  promised  power  to  tread 
with  impunity  on  these  hateful  creatures ; 3  and  our  Lord 
inquires,  as  an  encouragement  to  prayer,  whether,  if  a  son 
ask  an  egg,  a  father  will  give  him  a  scorpion ; 4  that  is, 
evil  instead  of  good. 

But  the  mosquitoes  are  a  greater  trouble  than  the 
scorpions,  for  their  number  is  legion,  and  on  the  shores 
of  the  lake  they  are  of  an  unusual  size.  At  Tiberias 
they  swarm  in  myriads,  so  that  the  reproach  of  Christ, 
that  the  Pharisees  would  strain  out  a  gnat,  while  they 
swallowed  a  camel,  must  have  come  vividly  home  to  His 
hearers.5  Pleas,  however,  are  the  supreme  worry  of  this 
district.  How  they  all  get  a  living  I  cannot  conjecture, 
unless  it  be  that  the  thoroughness  of  their  attacks,  when 
they  find  a  victim,  sustains  them  till  another  comes  in 
their  way.  Bedouins  are  often  forced  to  change  their 
camps  on  account  of  the  number  of  these  insects,  and  at 
Tiberias  and  elsewhere  I  have  had  cause  to  regret  that  my 

1  JDeut.  viii.  15 ;  Ezek.  ii.  6.  3  Luke  x.  19. 

2  1  Kings  xii.  11,  14 ;  1  Cliron.  x.  11,  14.  4  Luke  xi.  12. 

f>  Matt,  xxiii.  24. 


350  THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE.  [Chap. 

own  tent  should  have  been  pitched  on  ground  that  had  been 
used  as  an  encampment  by  native  travellers  or  tent  people, 
perhaps  long  before.  Nor  is  this  only  a  modern  trouble, 
for  fleas  appear  to  have  been  as  pestilently  common  in  Bible 
times  as  to-day,  since  poor  David  points  out  that  his  perse¬ 
cution  by  Saul  is  no  less  beneath  the  king  than  would  be 
the  chasing  of  a  single  flea.1 

The  Jordan  leaves  the  lake  through  a  green  plain, 
which  rises  about  twenty  feet  above  it,  but  slopes  very 
soon  towards  the  south.  The  water  is  about  100  feet 
across,  and  four  feet  deep,  with  a  swift  current ;  and 
one  has  to  get  over  as  best  he  can,  though  the  ruins  of 
a  bridge  speak  of  greater  facilities  in  old  times.  A  village 
of  about  200  wretched  houses  lies  on  the  east  of  the 
river,  at  the  edge  of  the  lake,  but  the  Moslems  who  in¬ 
habit  it  have  a  very  bad  name.  Pity  it  is  that  so  beautiful 
a  situation  should  be  so  miserably  occupied  !  Kerak,  the 
ancient  Tarichsea,  stands  on  the  west  side  of  the  lake  a 
short  distance  from  the  exit  of  the  Jordan ;  and  on  the 
east,  half-way  up  the  coast,  is  the  village  of  Khersa,  which 
is  thought  by  many  to  have  been  the  scene  of  our  Lord’s 
cure  of  the  demoniacs.  Gadara  is  mentioned  as  the  place 
by  St.  Mark  and  St.  Luke  in  the  text  of  the  Authorised 
Yersion,  while  St.  Matthew  gives  the  name  as  Gergesa. 
In  the  Bevised  Yersion,  however,  we  have  Gerasa  in  both 
Mark  and  Luke,  while  Gadara  is,  curiously,  inserted  in 
Matthew’s  account. 

This  last  place — a  Boman  town,  now  Umm  Keis — lay 
about  six  miles  south-west  from  the  lake,  and  was  famed 
for  its  baths.  There  are  still  numerous  tomb- caverns 
to  the  east  of  the  ruins,  with  a  great  many  richly- 
sculptured  basalt  sarcophagi  scattered  over  the  slopes 
of  the  hill.  The  stone  doors  of  the  rock-tombs  are 


1  1  Sam.  xxiv.  14;  xxvi.  20. 


XLY.J  KHAN  MINIEH,  KHERSA,  CHORAZIN.  351 

in  many  cases  preserved,  the  sarcophagi  of  the  chambers 
within  serving  the  lazy  peasants  as  bins  for  their  grain 
and  stores.  West  of  the  tombs  are  the  ruins  of  two 
theatres,  in  wonderful  preservation,  even  the  stages  being 
complete,  though  covered  with  rubbish.  Heaps  of  hewn 
stone  and  fragments  of  pillars  lie  scattered  over  the 
level  plateau  of  about  a  mile  in  width ;  and  in  many 
places  the  ruts  of  wheels  are  still  to  be  seen  in  the  basalt 
pavement.  That  our  Lord  should  have  walked  a  few 
miles  from  the  shore  of  the  lake  is  not  surprising ;  and 
besides  its  being  mentioned  in  the  Gospels,  Gadara  has  in 
its  favour,  as  the  scene  of  His  miracle,  the  fact  that  it 
was  one  of  the  places  belonging  to  the  league  of  the  ten 
cities,  called  Hecapolis,  through  which  the  demoniacs 
went  proclaiming  His  greatness,  after  they  had  been  cured. 
Yet  this  does  not  necessarily  imply  that  the  town  where 
they  had  lived  was  a  member  of  this  alliance ;  it  may 
mean  only  that  it  lay  near  the  border  of  the  district 
thus  named. 

Gerasa,  the  modern  Jerash,  once  a  splendid  Homan  city, 
and  still  famous  for  its  noble  ruins,  lies  forty  miles  south¬ 
east  of  the  lake,  so  that  it  is  impossible  to  regard  it  as 
the  place  in  question;  and  thus  we  are  shut  up  to  a  choice 
between  Gadara  and  Khersa,  or  Gersa,  a  name  which 
might  easily  be  contracted  from  Gergesa.  This  is  a  small 
place,  but  its  ruins  are  enclosed  by  the  remains  of  a  wall, 
which  show  that  it  was  once  much  larger ;  and  we  have 
the  assurance  of  Origen  that  a  city,  Gergesa,  stood  on  the 
east  shore  of  the  lake,  opposite  Tiberias.1  The  accounts 
in  the  Gospels  certainly  imply  that  the  city  was  close  to 
the  water ; 2  and  at  Khersa,  moreover,  there  is  the  steepest 
slope  to  be  found  on  the  banks  of  the  lake,  which  is  so 

1  Orig.  Opp.,  iv.  140. 

2  Mat",  viii.  28 ;  ix.  1 ;  Mark  v.  1,  21 ;  Luke  viii.  26,  40. 


352 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


close  to  the  foot  of  it  that  a  herd  of  swine,  rushing 
madly  down,  would  not  be  able  to  stop,  hut  must  he  pre¬ 
cipitated  into  the  depths. 

We  broke  up  from  Khan  Minieh  early  next  morning, 
to  ride  up  the  shore  towards  the  entrance  of  the  Jordan. 
The  pilgrims  were  all  gone  before  I  rose,  at  six,  but  a  band 
of  Arabs,  witli  horses,  had  come  in  their  place.  I  was 
loth  to  leave  a  spot  so  beautiful ;  green  on  every  side, 
with  abundant  waters  flowing  softly  through  the  reeds,  or 
shining  in  a  lovely  pool.  A  finely-dressed  Damascene,  by- 
tlie-bye,  riding  his  horse  into  this  pool,  presently  found 
himself  in  trouble,  for  the  beast,  alarmed  I  suppose  to  see 
so  much  water,  reared  and  threw  its  rider.  He  kept  hold 
of  the  bridle,  however,  and  picking  himself  up,  walked  out 
to  dry  land,  his  bravery  sadly  smirched  for  the  time. 

Passing  round  the  low  cliff,  once  I  should  think 
surmounted  by  a  castle,  we  followed  the  old  track,  a 
very  narrow  one,  cut  in  the  face  of  the  rocks — the 
very  path,  as  I  have  said,  which  our  Saviour  must  often 
have  trod.  Our  journey  lay  by  the  side  of  the  lake, 
almost  on  a  level  with  the  water,  for  the  crag  was  very 
soon  passed,  and  the  Plain  of  Gennesaret  left  behind. 
Less  than  a  mile  from  it  lies  the  supposed  site  of 
Bethsaida — -now  known  as  Ain  Tabgliah — with  a  strong 
stream  rushing  past  an  old  stone  mill  still  at  work, 
amidst  a  luxuriance  of  green  spread  over  a  small  plain, 
a  fringe  of  fine  gravel  bordering  the  lake.  Before  long, 
however,  fertility  wTas  once  more  lost,  for  the  slopes  on 
our  left,  as  we  rode  on,  were  thick  with  pieces  of  basalt 
of  all  sizes,  though  lovely  oleanders  fringed  them,  and 
ploughs  were  going  on  the  next  slope  above,  amidst  thou¬ 
sands  of  stones,  very  little  soil  being  visible.  What 
could  be  seen,  however,  left  no  question  of  its  fruit¬ 
fulness. 


XLV.]  KHAN  M1NIEH,  KHERSA,  CHORAZIN.  353 

We  again  passed  Tell  Hum,  with  its  long-silent  ruins, 
hidden  among  thistle-beds  and  rank  herbage — once  the 
scene  of  so’  much  busy  life ;  its  streets  perhaps  daily 
trodden  by  our  Saviour  and  His  apostles,  and  perhaps 
often  honoured  by  His  voice  speaking  as  never  man  spake; 
its  open  spaces  filled  with  the  nameless  sick,  pressing,  if 
only  to  touch  the  hem  of  His  “abba,”  which  they  had  found 
to  be  life-giving ;  the  same  bright  heaven  with  its  infinite 
azure  shining  over  all,  and  the  same  blue  lake  whispering 
among  the  pebbles  on  the  beach.  I  took  the  opportunity 
for  a  renewed  survey  of  the  ruins.  The  synagogue,  of 
white  limestone,  the  one  pale  building  in  a  town  of  black 
stone,  is  nearly  level  with  the  surface  of  the  ground,  and 
most  of  its  pillars  have  been  carried  off  to  be  burnt  for 
lime.  It  must  have  been  about  seventy-five  feet  long  and 
fifty- seven  feet  broad ;  the  roof  having  been  supported  by 
rows  of  pillars,  the  bases  of  which  in  many  cases  are  still 
in  position,  while  some  Corinthian  capitals  lie  in  the 
rubbish,  along  with  blocks  of  stone  which  had  rested  on 
them  and  supported  the  wooden  rafters.  Synagogues  seem 
to  have  nearly  always  had  some  religious  emblem  over  their 
main  entrance — a  seven-branched  candlestick,  or  a  Paschal 
lamb:1  the  device  over  this  one,  still  seen  on  a  large  stone, 
was  a  pot  of  manna,  which  is  very  striking  if  this  were  the 
building  frequented  by  Christ.  Perhaps  it  was  in  sight  of 
it  that  He  cried,  “  I  am  that  bread  of  life.  Your  fathers 
did  eat  manna  in  the  wilderness,  and  are  dead.”2  The 
ruins  of  the  ancient  town  cover  a  space  about  half  a  mile 
in  length  and  half  as  broad.  On  the  north  side  are  two 
remarkable  tombs;  one,  of  limestone  blocks,  built  under¬ 
ground  in  an  excavation  made  in  the  hard  basalt ;  the 

O 

1  There  is  one,  however,  over  which  a  hare — an  unclean  creature  -  is 
represented. 

2  John  vi.  48,  49. 

X 


354 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AHD  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


other,  a  great  four-cornered  structure,  above  ground,  made 
to  bold  a  great  many  bodies,  and  apparently  once  white¬ 
washed  :  one  of  those  tombs  to  which  our  Lord  compared 
the  Pharisees  of  His  day  when  He  proclaimed  them 
“  whited  sepulchres.”  1  There  are  no  traces  of  a  harbour, 
so  that  the  fishing-boats  must  either  have  been  drawn  up 
on  shore  when  not  in  use,  or  kept  in  the  little  bend  at 
Tabghah,  where  the  mill  now  is.  This  place,  a  mile  and 
a  half  from  Tell  Hum,  is  believed  by  Sir  Charles  Wilson 
to  have  been  the  fountain  of  Capernaum,  a  distinction 
which  Canon  Tristram  confers  upon  the  “  Pound  Foun¬ 
tain”  away  at  the  south  end  of  Gennesaret.  There  are 
five  fountains  at  Tabghah ;  one  of  them  quite  a  small 
river.  Its  waters  appear  to  have  been  raised  in  ancient 
times  to  a  higher  level  by  works  which  still  remain,  and 
they  were  thus  made  to  water  the  great  plain  to  the 
south  ;  a  very  strong  reservoir  raising  their  surface  twenty 
feet,  and  an  aqueduct  from  this  leading  the  stream  to  the 
plain.2  Sir  C.  Wilson  thinks  this  a  strong  corroboration 
of  the  claims  of  Tell  Hum  to  he  Capernaum,  but  when  so 
many  doctors  differ  I  feel  it  would  be  presumptuous  in  me 
arbitrarily  to  decide. 

From  Tell  Hum  we  rode  slowly  on  past  a  wady 
which  turns  sharply  to  the  north-west,  on  the  way  to 
Chorazin,  the  present  Kerazeh.  The  path  for  a  time  led 
along  the  bank,  over  the  water ;  a  long  slope  stretching 
slowly  upwards  on  our  left.  The  surface  lay  well-nigh 
buried  under  a  rain  of  fragments  of  basalt  of  all  sizes — the 
image  of  utter  chaos — strewn  there  for  untold  ages  before 
Christ’s  day,  just  as  now;  for  the  ruin  from  this  fire- 
shower  out  of  long-dead  volcanoes  was  under  His  eyes,  as 

1  Matt,  xxiii.  27. 

2  What  some  authorities  think  an  aqueduct  is,  however,  asserted  by  others 
to  be  a  road. 


XLV.] 


KHAN  MINIEH,  KHERSA,  CHORAZIN. 


355 


He  passed,  as  it  was  under  ours.  Half  a  mile  beyond 
Tell  Hum,  the  mouth  of  the  Chorazin  wady  opened  to  the 
lake  :  a  sight  never  to  be  forgotten.  The  soil  which  had 
spread  itself  over  the  basalt- covered  ground,  and  which 
was  the  product  of  the  action  of  rain,  air,  heat,  and  cold,  in 
ages  of  ages,  proved,  when  a  section  of  the  underlying  bed 
was  presented  by  the  sides  and  bottom  of  the  wady,  to  be 
simply  a  skin  over  a  chaos  of  black  boulders.  The  sides 
and  bottom  of  the  gorge,  worn  by  floods  from  the  hills, 
were  only  a  heaped-up  confusion  of  millions  of  black 
stones,  of  all  shapes  and  sizes,  offering  a  track  up  which 
no  man  or  beast  of  burden  could  by  any  possibility  have 
made  way.  This,  too,  must  have  been  the  same  in 
Christ’s  day,  and,  for  that  matter,  in  Adam’s. 

Beyond  this  wild,  dark  Tartarus-mouth,  some  spots 
of  soil  were  comparatively  clear ;  at  least,  loose  patches 
of  grain  were  springing  up  among  the  stones.  The 
banks  were  fringed  with  bushes,  and  here  and  there 
were  actually  spots  which  to  some  perceptible  degree  had 
been  cleared  of  stones  by  industrious  peasant -labour. 
Two  donkeys  passed,  each  bearing  a  side  of  wild  boar 
flesh,  a  man  with  a  long  brass-bound  gun  walking  at  the 
side  of  his  beasts.  The  flats  of  the  Jordan,  where  the 
river  enters  the  lake,  had  yielded  this  prize,  for  wild  swine 
are  very  plentiful  on  the  edge  of  the  marsh-land,  where 
they  are  sheltered  by  thickets  of  reeds  and  bushes.  One 
could  hardly  imagine  where  such  flesh  could  be  used,  with 
so  many  of  the  scanty  population  Mussulmans  or  Jews. 
But  it  is  almost  a  figure  to  speak  of  population  at  all. 
The  wilds  of  America,  even  in  recently-settled  parts,  have 
as  many  inhabitants  as  once-crowded  Palestine.  I  pro¬ 
posed  that  we  should  keep  on,  and  go  to  the  north  by  the 
path  which  skirts  the  west  bank  of  the  Jordan,  but  my 
dragoman  would  not  hear  of  it.  The  Arabs,  he  said,  would 


X 


356 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


most  likely  plunder  us.  Two  friends  at  Damascus  after¬ 
wards  told  me  they  had  ridden  south  by  this  track,  with¬ 
out  harm,  “  though,”  added  they,  “at  one  point  a  couple 
of  Arabs  from  an  encampment  near  rode  down  on  ns  with 
their  spears  couched,  yelling  as  they  came,  hut  they  stopped 
when  we  drew  our  revolvers,  and  presently  rode  off.” 

Low  hills  trend  hack  from  the  shore  till  you  come  to  the 
delta  of  the  Jordan,  and  the  whole  surface  of  the  ground 
continues  to  be  covered  with  black  boulders  ;  here  smaller, 
there  larger.  The  marshy  plain  through  which  the  river 
enters  the  lake  is  wide  and  perfectly  flat ;  sown  in  its 
driest  parts  ;  left  to  the  buffaloes  elsewhere.  The  peasants 
who  cultivate  the  useful  portion  of  it  come  from  a  distance, 
and  live  here  for  three  months  in  tsnts  ;  returning  to 
their  hamlets  after  the  harvest.  A  large  building  on  the 
eastern  shore  of  the  lake  proved  to  be  a  magazine  for  grain, 
so  that  there  must  be  considerable  tillage.  It  stood  on 
a  pleasant  green  slope  leading  up  into  the  hills,  which  were 
wooded  with  oak  :  a  great  contrast  to  the  western  side, 
where  we  were.  Up  the  glen  before  us  was  perhaps  the 
scene  of  the  miraculous  feeding  of  the  multitude. 

Turning  to  the  north-west,  towards  Kerazeli,  the 
path  led  over  the  slope  of  low  hills,  strewn  with  boulders 
of  shining  black  basalt.  There  was,  indeed,  no  path ;  nor 
could  the  country  have  been  more  utterly  desolate. 
Chorazin  itself  stands  in  the  midst  of  such  desolation  as 
must  be  seen  to  be  believed.  Millions  of  boulders  cover 
the  ground  everywhere,  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach.  The 
horses  could  hardly,  in  fact,  get  a  footing  between  them, 
either  in  climbing  the  slopes  on  the  way  from  the  lake 
or  among  the  ruins  themselves.  Yet  even  in  this  vision 
of  chaos  the  stones  lay  less  thickly  in  some  spots  than  in 
others,  and  these  the  poor  fellahin  had  in  some  cases  sown 
with  grain.  On  one  slope  were  a  few  Arab  tents,  before 


XLV.] 


KHAN  MINIEH,  KHEKSA,  CHORAZIN. 


357 


which  a  woman  in  her  long  blue  gown,  reaching  down  to 
her  feet,  and  very  graceful,  was  gathering  dry  thistle-stalks 
for  fuel,  while  a  few  camels  were  grazing  among  the  stones. 
Nowhere,  however,  did  rock  crop  out  :  the  rain  of  boulders 
was  entirely  distinct  from  the  hills  on  which  they  lay  so 
thickly.  The  terrible  volcanic  energy  in  this  district  ceased 
long  before  the  historic  period — how  long  no  one  can  tell — 
and  hence  the  aspect  of  the  landscape  must  have  been  the 
same  in  Christ’s  day  as  at  present.  How  any  consider¬ 
able  community,  such  as  Chorazin  must  have  been,  from 
the  extent  of  its  ruins,  which  cover  as  much  ground  as 
those  of  Tell  Hum,  could  have  lived  in  such  a  region,  it  is 
very  hard  to  imagine.  There  was  no  Roman  road  pass¬ 
ing  near,  to  bring  travellers,  while  the  inhabitants  could 
hardly  have  gained  subsistence  from  the  lake,  since  they 
were  not  less  than  two  miles  from  it  and  as  much  as  700 
feet  above  it.  Yet  the  ruins  speak  of  some  wealth. 
Lintels,  doorposts,  heads  of  pillars,  and  carved  stones,  all 
of  basalt,  are  scattered  about,  and  there  are  the  remains 
of  a  synagogue,  also  of  basalt,  with  Corinthian  capitals, 
niclie-lieads,  and  other  ornaments,  cut,  not  as  at  Tell 
Hum,  in  limestone,  but  in  the  hard  black  trap. 

One  very  interesting  feature  of  the  ruins  is  that  many 
of  the  dwelling-houses  are  still  tolerably  perfect,  though 
in  the  days  of  St.  Jerome,1  Chorazin  had  long  been  deserted. 
In  some  cases  the  walls  are  six  feet  high,  of  square  blocks 
of  imperishable  basalt,  or  lava,  forming  houses  of  different 
sizes,  but  generally  square,  the  largest  measuring  nearly 
thirty  feet  inside;  with  one  or  two  columns  down  the 
middle,  to  support  the  roof,  which  was  apparently  flat,  as 
in  the  present  houses  of  Palestine.  As  a  rule,  however,  the 
dwellings  are  very  small  ;  in  fact,  only  tiny  hollow  cubes. 
The  walls  are  about  two  feet  thick,  sometimes  of  loose 

1  a.d.  331-420. 


358 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


blocks,  sometimes  of  masonry,  with  a  low  doorway  in  the 
centre  of  one  side  ;  the  only  windows  being  slits  a  foot 
high  and  six  inches  broad.  One  or  two  of  the  houses 
were  divided  into  four  chambers,  but  most  of  them  had 
only  one  room,  though  some  had  two.  These  venerable 
remains  have  certainly  not  been  built  since  Jerome’s  day, 
so  that  they  have  stood  tenantless  for  at  least  fifteen 
hundred  years,  and  may  well  have  been  standing  in  the 
days  when  our  Lord  from  time  to  time  wandered  among 
them,  doing  those  mighty  works  which  were  yet,  as  at 
Bethsaida  and  Capernaum,  ineffectual  to  bring  the  popu¬ 
lation  to  thoughtfulness  and  repentance.1  It  helps  one  to 
realise  better  the  daily  life  of  our  Saviour,  to  see  in  what 
poor,  barren  spots  He  laboured  ;  following  the  lost  sheep 
of  Israel  to  such  a  forbidding  wilderness.  There  lay  among 
the  ruins  a  huge  stone,  four  feet  thick,  round  like  a  mill¬ 
stone,  and  as  large,  once  the  great  roller  of  an  oil-press, 
showing  that  in  former  times  olives  must  have  grown  some¬ 
where  near,  though  it  is  hard  to  realise  where  they  could 
have  found  soil,  for  the  only  trees  to  be  seen  were  one 
or  two  figs,  growing  up  in  the  houses  so  long  abandoned. 

From  Chorazin  to  Safed  the  path,  if  such  it  can  be 
called,  led  down  one  side  of  the  wady  over  which  Chorazin 
stands,  and  up  the  other.  Such  a  scramble  comes  rarely  in 
any  man’s  life,  for  it  was  simply  a  dexterous  effort  of  the 
horse  at  each  step  to  get  its  feet  safely  between  lumps  of 
basalt,  the  descent  teaching  a  fine  lesson  in  leaning  back, 
and  the  upward  climb  leading  to  the  most  endearing  em¬ 
brace  of  the  quadruped’s  neck.  The  gorge  passed,  a 
rolling  table-land  succeeded,  only  a  little  less  barren  than 
the  slQpe  up  from  Tell  Hum,  with  no  population  but 
some  Arabs  with  black  tents  and  white-faced  cattle,  the 
leanness  of  the  beasts  speaking  for  the  barrenness  of  the 

1  Matt.  xi.  21,  23. 


XLV.]  KHAN  MIN1EH,  KHERSA,  CHORAZIN.  359 

soil  around.  Bedouins  are  found  in  all  parts  of  Palestine, 
but  chiefly  in  those  that  are  easily  accessible  from  the 
Jordan  or  from  the  southern  desert,  though  they  seem  at 
different  times  to  have  intruded  more  or  less  thickly  over 
the  whole  country.  The  Holy  Land  is  so  hemmed  in  by 
the  great  wilderness,  dear  to  tent-life,  that  there  is  always 
a  strong  temptation  to  mount  the  passes  to  the  liill- 
country,  where  springs  and  wells  spread  a  fertility  quite 
unknown  in  the  desert,  except  after  the  rains.  Encamp¬ 
ments  from  the  mountains  of  Gilead,  the  plains  of  the 
Hauran,  the  uplands  of  Moab,  the  great  southern  desert, 
and  the  plains  of  Philistia  and  Sharon,  are  at  all  times  to 
be  found  making  their  way,  like  the  tribes  of  Abraham  or 
Jacob  in  old  days,  into  the  hill-country  with  its  green 
plains  and  tempting  valleys.  Yet  the  settled  population 
seem  slowly  gaining  ground,  for  the  nomads  in  Lower 
Galilee,  and  even  in  the  Plain  of  Sharon,*  are  only  a 
miserable  remnant  of  once-povverful  tribes,  destined,  it  is 
to  be  hoped,  before  many  years,  to  disappear  again  into 
their  sandy  wastes.  As  in  the  earliest  ages,  the  Arab 
and  the  peasant  are  bitter  foes,  for  the  one  is  an  idle 
thief  and  cut-throat  by  nature,  the  other  an  industrious 
tiller  of  the  ground.  Though  intolerably  proud,  the  tent- 
dwellers,  I  fear,  can  hardly  boast  pure  Arab  blood,  for  I 
have  often  seen  Nubians  and  other  black  men  as  slaves  in 
their  camps ;  refugees  from  Damascus  and  other  towns, 
who,  once  admitted  to  a  tribe,  may  marry  into  it.  Tents  are 
fixed  in  any  spot  only  as  long  as  the  pasturage  and  water 
last ;  a  few  blows  of  the  mallet,  and  the  pegs  are  pulled 
up,  the  coverings  rolled  together,  the  poles  tied  in  bundles, 
and  the  camp  moves  to  some  other  haunt,  just,  one  may 
suppose,  as  the  Hebrews  did  in  their  forty  years’  wander¬ 
ings.  I  have  noticed  already  that  encampments  are  rarely 
near  water,  perhaps  because  the  lesson  has  been  learned 


360 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


by  experience  that  tlie  ground  near  springs,  since  it 
usually  lies  low,  is  apt  to  be  unhealthy.  One  might 
suppose  that  the  situations  chosen  would  at  least  alwaj^s 
be  safe,  but  it  sometimes  happens  that  when  the  bed  of  a 
wady  has  been,  for  some  reason,  selected,  a  sudden  rain¬ 
storm  floods  down  from  the  hills  and  carries  away  the 
whole  camp,  flocks  and  all,  reminding  one  of  the  foolish 
man  who  built  his  house  on  the  sand.1 

East  of  the  Jordan  you  sometimes  meet  with  large 
numbers  of  tents ;  but  in  Palestine  the  stony  pasture,  and 
the  comparative  scarcity  of  water,  cause  a  division  of  the 
tribes  into  numerous  small  camps,  much  like  knots  of  gipsy 
tents  as  to  number.  The  tent  has  generally  nine  poles,  by 
no  means  straight,  those  in  the  centre  being  highest,  to 
make  the  rain  pass  off.  The  open  side  is  always  turned 
to  the  sun,  that  the  covered  back  may  give  better  shelter ; 
and  the  site  is  usually  so  carefully  chosen  that  even  strong 
winds  rarely  blow  the  tent  down ;  in  part,  doubtless,  from 
its  being  so  low.  The  coverings  are  thick  and  well  woven, 
so  that  rain  does  not  easily  get  through  them ;  but  the 
Arabs  suffer  greatly  in  winter  from  rheumatism,  which 
must  in  all  ages  have  been  prevalent,  at  least  in  the 
country  parts  of  Palestine,  from  the  poor  provision  for 
shelter  in  the  cold  nights. 

O 

The  dress  of  these  tent-people  is  everywhere  much  as 
I  have  described  it  in  previous  pages,  and  is  in  all  prob¬ 
ability  the  same  as  in  the  days  of  the  patriarchs.  A  blue 
cotton  shirt,  reaching  below  the  knees,  or  to  them,  with  a 
strap  round  the  waist  to  keep  it  to  the  person,  is  the 
general  summer  costume,  with  the  addition  of  a  sheepskin 
jacket,  the  woolly  side  inwards,  and  the  outside  dyed  red, 
or  of  a  woollen  striped  “  abba,”  in  cold  weather ;  but  the 
legs  are  always  bare,  and  look  miserable  enough  in  a  keen 

1  Matt.  vii.  26. 


XLV.] 


KHAN  MINIEH,  KHERSA,  CHORAZIN. 


361 


wind.  The  “kefiyeh”  is  the  universal  head-dress.  Sandals 
are  still  in  frequent  use — mere  shoe-soles,  kept  on  the  foot 
by  a  hide  thong,  brought  from  the  heel,  passed  through 
the  head  of  one  of  two  short  straps  rising  at  the  sides, 
then  passed  round  the  great  toe,  and  secured  by  a  button 
to  the  second  strap,  at  the  other  side.  This,  no  doubt,  is 
the  sandal  of  Scripture. 

An  armed  Arab  is  a  formidable  -  looking  personage, 
but  he  could  do  little  against  modern  weapons.  A  very 
long-barrelled  gun,  with  a  flint  lock,  brass  fittings,  and  a 
light  stock,  stones  often  serving  for  shot  or  ball ;  a  sword 
like  a  large  knife  ;  and  a  long  tufted  spear  or  lance,  form 
his  full  equipment ;  for  shields,  bows,  and  short  spears 
are  now  out  of  use.  On  the  east  of  the  Jordan,  however, 
one  still  finds  a  strange  survival  from  the  Middle  Ages,  in 
occasional  coats  of  linked  iron  mail,  down  to  the  knees,  and 
an  iron  helmet  with  a  spike  on  the  top,  and  a  light  plate 
in  front  to  protect  the  nose.  Some  Bedouins,  but  not 
many,  are  in  their  way  very  religious,  strictly  observing 
the  hours  of  Moslem  prayer,  with  preliminary  washing  of 
the  hands,  arms,  legs,  and  face,  where  possible.  Educa¬ 
tion  is  regarded  as  a  degradation,  and  is  therefore  despised  ; 
so  that  the  traditions,  exaggerated  at  each  repetition,  are 
strange  confusions  in  the  end,  widely- separate  events  being 
jumbled  together  as  well  as  sadly  distorted.  The  ruling 
passion  seems  to  be  avarice,  but  in  this  the  Bedouins  are 
not  different  from  Orientals  general ly,  old  and  young. 
Like  the  ancient  Jews,  they  have  a  hatred  of  the  sea,  and 
would  much  rather  walk  round  the  Lake  of  Galilee  than 
save  any  amount  of  time  or  trouble  by  crossing  it  in  a 
boat. 

Khan  Yusef,  about  two  miles  north-west  of  Chorazin, 
was  the  first  building  we  reached,  and  it  stands  alone  for 
miles  in  every  direction,  forming  one  of  the  resting-places 


362 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE.  [Chap.  XLY. 


for  caravans  on  tlie  so-called  highway  to  Damascus.  It 
is  a  large  rectangular  building  of  stone,  with  an  arched 
entrance  and  battlemented  walls ;  and  there  is  the  usual 
open  space  within  for  beasts,  a  well  to  water  them,  open 
chambers  for  merchandise,  and  others  over  them  for 
travellers,  reached  by  a  balcony  running  round  three  sides. 
Everything,  of  course,  is  more  or  less  in  ruins :  indeed,  it 
was  not  easy  to  climb  the  steps  to  the  top  of  the  wall,  or 
to  the  sleeping-places,  which  are  only  hare  cells,  often 
without  doors.  There  were  no  visitors  when  I  was  there, 
and  the  only  creature  outside  was  a  peasant — wondrously 
dirty  in  his  cotton  skull-cap  and  old  whitey-brown  shirt — 
tending  a  few  cattle  and  sheep. 


CHAPTER  XL VI. 


SAFED,  GISCALA,  KADESH. 

Safed  lies  about  five  miles  on  the  road,  or  no-road,  to 
the  north-west  of  Khan  Yusef,  but  although  the  khan 
stands  800  feet  above  the  Lake  of  Galilee,  the  journey  to 
Safed  is  a  continual  ascent  of  nearly  2,000  feet  more.  The 
hill  on  which  the  town  stands  is  a  weary  climb.  The 
rocks  shine  out  bare  on  its  steep  sides,  looking  like  the 
ribs  of  a  skeleton,  all  the  “  flesh  ”  having  been  washed 
away  by  the  winter  rains  of  ages.  The  track  is  lonely  and 
desolate,  seldom  showing  even  a  goatherd  with  his  goats. 
Safed  itself  lies  hidden  by  the  top  of  the  mountain,  hut 
the  view  looking  down  towards  the  lake  in  its  deep  cradle 
of  hills  is  very  striking ;  the  dark  blue  of  the  water  seem¬ 
ing  additionally  lovely  because  of  the  desolate  setting  of 
hare  heights.  The  weather  was  beautiful,  the  sun  setting 
in  a  cloudless  sky,  and  lighting  up  the  mountains  with 
mild  softened  brightness  before  it  was  hidden  in  the  west. 
At  last,  after  descending  a  picturesque  ravine  watered  by 
a  fine  streamlet,  the  path  led  up  to  the  town,  which  rises 
in  terraces  on  steep  slopes,  almost  in  the  form  of  the 
letter  Y,  and  passes  over  to  the  plateau  above  in  three 
entirely  distinct  sections. 

The  houses  are  well  built  of  stone,  and  surround  a 
castle  which  rises  above  them ;  valleys  and  gardens,  with 
vines,  and  olive  and  fig  trees,  lying  between  the  different 


364 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AKD  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


parts  of  the  town.  It  is  not  easy  to  ascertain  the  exact 
population,  for,  while  the  Memoirs  of  the  Palestine  Fund 
say  there  are  3,000  Mahommedans,  1,500  Jews,  and  50 
Christians,  Guerin  speaks  of  7,000  Jews,  6,000  Mahom¬ 
medans,  and  150  Christians.  The  castle,  which  is  a  me¬ 
morial  of  the  wonderful  energy  of  the  Crusaders,  having 
been  built  by  King  Fulke  about  a.d.  1140,  stands  in  a 
great  elliptical  enclosure,  surrounded  by  a  ditch  partly  cut 
in  the  living  rock,  hut  now  in  great  measure  filled  up.  In 
its  glory  it  wras  flanked  by  ten  towers,  hut  the  outer  casing 
of  hewn  stones  has  been  removed  for  building  material, 
and  the  inner  rubble  alone  remains.  The  castle  itself, 
which  stood  inside  this  circumvallation,  had  a  second 
ditch  round  it,  but  the  walls  have  fallen  into  a  confused 
mass  of  rubbish,  from  which  stones  are  constantly  being 
taken  away  for  new  buildings.  Great  towers,  now  in 
ruins,  once  rose  at  the  angles,  and  huge  cisterns,  still 
remaining,  supplied  water  for  the  garrison,  while  in  the 
centre  a  massive  keep  or  citadel  dominated  the  city.  So 
mighty  was  the  living  force  of  the  Western  world  seven 
hundred  years  ago,  even  in  this  sequestered  nook  of 
Palestine  ! 

A  great  Eabbinical  school  which  flourished  here  in  the 
seventeenth  century  and  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth 
won  for  Safed  among  the  Jews  the  high  distinction  of  one 
of  the  four  holy  cities  of  Israel,  in  which  prayers  must  be 
said  several  times  a  week,  if  the  earth  at  large  is  to  escape 
destruction :  the  supplicants  who  set  so  high  a  value  on 
their  intercessions  being  among  the  most  wretched  and 
ignorantly  bigoted  of  men.  The  Safed  Jews,  long  defence¬ 
less  among  their  bitter  enemies  the  Mahommedans,  now 
enjoy  peace  and  safety  under  the  protection  of  Austria, 
most  of  them  being  from  Austrian  Poland.  They  are, 
however,  for  the  most  part,  unutterably  poor ;  owing  their 


XL  VI.] 


SAFED,  GISCALA,  KADESH. 


365 


very  bread  to  tlie  doles  of  their  richer  brethren  in  Europe. 
To  anyone  not  of  their  number,  their  life  seems  a  mere 
loathsome  misery,  for  they  are  intolerably  dirty,  and  their 
quarter  is  so  foul  that  fever  breaks  out  when  the  rain 
stirs  up  the  mud  of  their  lanes.  A  few  give  themselves 
to  trade,  or,  as  at  Hebron,  to  vine-growing,  but  all  alike 
are  blind  fanatics,  petrified  in  ignorant  Pharisaism  and 
in  servility  to  their  Pabbis,  while  indulging  in  a  loose  and 
casuistical  morality.  A  false  oath  to  a  (Tentile  is  nothing  ; 
to  a  Pabbi  it  is  a  mortal  sin.  They  will  not  carry  a  hand¬ 
kerchief  in  their  pockets  on  the  Sabbath,  because  that  would 
be  bearing  a  burden,  but  they  tie  it  round  their  waist, 
and  then  it  is  only  a  girdle.  To  walk  with  heavy-soled 
shoes  on  the  sacred  day  would  be  to  carry  a  burden,  and  to 
tread  on  grass  during  its  hours  is  to  offend,  for  is  not 
this  a  kind  of  threshing  P  One  cannot  help  thinking  of 
the  grave  controversy  in  Christ’s  day,  among  the  Pabbis, 
whether  it  was  permissible  to  eat  an  egg  that  had  been 
laid  on  the  Sabbath !  To  wind  up  a  watch  after  sunset  on 
Friday  would  be  a  dreadful  matter;  but  while  shrinking 
from  such  an  act,  the  precisian  too  seldom  hesitates  to  live 
a  profane  and  ungodly  life. 

The  Safed  Jews  are  very  tenacious  of  Old  Testa¬ 
ment  usages,  and  hence  they  favour  polygamy ;  some  of 
them  having  two  or  three  wives.  The  duty  of  marry¬ 
ing*  the  childless  wife  of  a  deceased  brother  is  also  still 
maintained,  in  accordance  with  the  old  command:  “  If 
brethren  dwell  together,  and  one  of  them  die,  and  have 
no  child,  the  wife  of  the  dead  shall  not  marry  without, 
unto  a  stranger :  her  husband’s  brother  shall  take  her  to 
him  to  wife ;  and  it  shall  be,  that  the  first-horn  which 
she  bearetli  shall  succeed  in  the  name  of  his  brother 
which  is  dead,  that  his  name  be  not  put  out  of  Israel.”  1 

1  Deut.  xxv.  5 — 10. 


366 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


The  custom  which  enabled  Ruth  to  get  Boaz  for  a  husband 
is  thus  still  honoured  in  this  spot  of  Palestine.  In  the 
synagogue,  phylacteries  are  still  worn  on  the  brow  and 
arm,  as  in  Russia,  in  fancied  obedience  to  the  injunction, 
“  Thou  shalt  bind  them  ” — that  is,  certain  words  of  the 
Law — “  for  a  sign  upon  thy  hand,  and  they  shall  be  as 
frontlets  between  thine  eyes.”1 

Safed  has  a  climate  very  like  that  of  Jerusalem,  the 
cities  being  about  the  same  height  above  the  sea,  so  that 
it  is  hot  in  summer  and  cold  in  winter.  It  might  seem 
natural,  therefore,  that  well-to-do  inhabitants  would  go 
down  in  the  cold  season  to  Tiberias,  as  the  better  class 
in  Jerusalem  used  to  winter  at  Jericho  ;  but  deadly  fevers 
rao-e  on  the  lake-shore  in  the  winter.  Safed,  it  should 
be  added,  is  noted  in  summer  for  its  countless  scorpions 
and  numerous  snakes. 

The  view  from  the  ruined  castle  is  very  line.  The 
Lake  of  Galilee  in  its  whole  extent  lies  at  one’s  feet. 
Tabor  rises  above  the  hills  around  it,  and  to  the  west 
there  is  a  glimpse  of  Esdraelon.  The  citadel  was  once 
considered  impregnable,  but  in  July,  1266,  the  Christian 
garrison  quitted  it  under  articles  of  capitulation  to  Sul¬ 
tan  Bibars,  whose  promises,  however,  were  shamelessly 
broken,  the  whole  force,  numbering  2,000  men,  being 
killed,  while  the  priests  were  only  spared  that  they  might 
afterwards  be  flayed  alive.  The  castle  was  brought  to 
its  present  condition  by  the  great  earthquake  of  1837, 
after  having  stood  the  storms  of  time  for  more  than  six 
hundred  years.  The  town  beneath  it  shared  in  the  de¬ 
struction.  In  the  Jews’  quarter,  especially,  the  ruin  was 
terrible,  the  houses  being  built  on  a  slope  so  steep  that 
the  roofs  of  one  terrace  seem  to  be  the  street  before  those 
of  the  terrace  above.  Badly  built,  one  row  fell  crashing 

1  Deut.  vi.  8. 


XL  VI.] 


SAFED,  GISCALA,  KADESH. 


367 


down  on  another,  leaving  no  chance  of  escape,  but  burying 
the  population  in  the  wreck. 

The  great  Rabbi  Hillel  is  believed  to  have  been 
buried  at  Meiron,  about  three  miles  west  of  Safed ;  a 
tomb  cut  in  the  rock,  with  about  thirty  places  for  the  dead, 
being  pointed  out  as  his.  Near  this  chamber,  which  is 
about  twenty-five  feet  long  and  eighteen  broad,  there  is 
a  long  stone  building  with  a  large  space  inside,  at  the  end 
of  which  are  three  tombs  that  are  especially  venerated. 
Here  Mr.  Hackett,1  an  American  professor,  was  fortunate 
enough  to  see  a  great  celebration  in  honour  of  the  dead 
Rabbis,  some  of  the  details  of  which  are  well  worth 
quoting.  Over  the  graves  hung  burning  lamps,  beside 
which  crowds  knelt  at  their  devotions,  while  multitudes 
had  spread  their  sleeping-mats  beneath  stalls  raised  for 
the  time  along  the  walls.  Strong  drink  was  in  great 
demand  from  numerous  sellers,  some  of  those  praying 
being  already  drunk.  Here,  a  couple  of  men  exhibited 
sword-play,  to  the  clash  of  cymbals  ;  a  little  way  from 
them  was  a  group  of  dancers,  for  whom  the  spectators 
sang  and  clapped  hands.  But  the  special  object  of  the 
gathering  was  to  burn  costly  gifts  in  honour  of  the 
ancient  teachers.  The  long  court  was  densely  crowded 
soon  after  dark  to  witness  these  offerings.  At  one 
corner  of  a  gallery,  placed  so  that  all  could  see  it,  was  a 
basin  of  oil,  in  which  whatever  was  to  be  burned  was 
dipped,  to  make  it  more  inflammable.  A  shawl,  worth 
fifteen  pounds  sterling,  was  the  first  article  offered ;  the 
men  clapping  hands  and  the  women  shrieking  for  joy,  as 
it  was  set  on  fire  by  a  blazing  torch.  Other  offerings 
of  shawls,  scarves,  handkerchiefs,  books,  and  the  like,  were 
then  handed  up,  and  burnt  in  the  same  way;  the  crowd 
from  time  to  time  yelling  with  delight,  and  the  uproar 

1  Illustrations  of  Scripture,  p.  242. 


363 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


continuing  through  great  part  of  the  night.  What  could 
this  mean  ?  Is  it  a  confused  tradition  of  the  offerings  to 
the  Temple  in  ancient  times  ?  These,  however,  were  not 
burnt. 

About  three  miles  north  of  Meiron,  the  village  of  El- 
Jish — the  ancient  Giscala — recalls  memories  of  the  great 
apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  for  his  ancestors  lived  here  before 
emigrating  to  Tarshish.1  It  lies  on  a  hill  which  falls 
steeply  to  the  east,  at  the  mouth  of  a  flat,  well-tilled 
valley,  through  which  flows  a  strong  brook  bordered  by 
rich  green  bushes.  One  of  the  leaders  of  the  Jews  in  the 
last  despairing  struggle  against  Titus  at  Jerusalem  was  a 
native  of  the  village,  vindicating  by  his  valour  the  old 
reputation  of  Galilee  as  the  native  land  of  brave  men. 
The  country  around  is  without  trees  to  the  south-east, 
though  both  at  Meiron  and  El-Jish  there  are  fine  groves 
of  olive  and  fig  trees.  In  the  open  landscape  of  hill  and 
valley,  a  few  herds  of  sheep  or  goats  are  to  be  seen,  but 
there  is  not  a  little  poor  land,  and  the  soil  is  not  much 
tilled  :  more  from  the  want  of  population  than  its  own 
poverty.  Here  and  there  a  traveller  on  an  ass,  often  with¬ 
out  bridle  or  head-gear,  passes,  but  she-asses  seem  to  he 
preferred,  as  being  easier  in  their  step.  The  colt  run¬ 
ning  at  its  mother’s  side  is  a  pleasant  sight,  recalling 
the  simple  dignity  of  our  Lord’s  entrance  to  Jerusalem, 
and  bringing  back  with  force  the  full  meaning  of  the 
prophet’s  words  :  “  Shout,  O  daughter  of  Jerusalem ; 

behold,  thy  King  cometh  unto  thee  ;  He  is  just  and 
having  salvation  ;  lowly,  and  riding  upon  an  ass,  and  upon 
a  colt,  the  foal  of  an  ass.”2 

The  brook  which  waters  the  valley  of  Giscala  flows  in  a 
permanent  stream  north-west,  and  then,  bending  in  a  wide 
arc  to  the  south  and  east,  runs  at  last  into  the  Lake  of 

1  Jerome,  de  Viris  IUustr.  5.  2  Zech.  ix.  9. 


XLVI.] 


SAFED,  GrIS  CAL  A,  KADESH. 


369 


Merom,  or  El-Hulefi.  Galilee  in  this  part  is  a  land  of 
brooks  and  springs,  for  two  perennial  streams  flow  to  the 
south  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Safed,  uniting  after  a  time, 
before  crossing  the  Plain  of  Gennesaret,  on  their  way 
to  the  Lake  of  Galilee.  About  four  miles  almost  north  of 
El-Jish,  in  a  shallow  valley,  is  the  village  of  Yarun,  which 
has  near  it  the  remains  of  a  large  church,  built  of  great 
blocks  of  stone.  Columns,  and  portions  of  moulded  door¬ 
posts,  with  finely-cut  capitals,  are  freely  scattered  about ; 
many  of  them  lying  in  and  around  a  large  rain-water 
pond.  This  grand  building  was  once  paved  with  mosaic, 
large  pieces  of  which  are  still  perfect  below  the  soil ;  and 
not  a  few  of  its  finely-carved  spoils  are  seen  built  into 
the  mosque. 

This  district  is,  in  part,  inhabited  by  a  fanatical  sect 
of  Moslems  known  as  Metawilehs,  who  keep  rigidly  aloof 
from  the  members  of  any  other  faith.  To  touch  the  con¬ 
tents  of  a  fruit-stall  belonging  to  one  of  them  rouses  the 
fiercest  indignation,  for  the  finger  of  any  person  not  of 
their  own  creed  pollutes.  They  would  rather  break  a 
jar  than  drink  from  it  after  it  had  touched  unclean  lips — 
that  is,  those  of  anyone  but  a  Metawileh.  As  contact 
with  a  corpse  defiled  an  Israelite,1  so  a  stranger  touching 
the  clothing  of  one  of  this  fierce  sect  makes  it  unclean. 
As  with  the  Jews,  “  it  is  an  unlawful  thing  for  a  man  to 
keep  company,  or  come  to  one  of  another  nation,”2  a  law 
so  rigid  that  St.  Peter,  even  after  he  had  been  enlight¬ 
ened  by  a  vision  from  God,  dissembled  at  Antioch,  and 
needed  to  be  rebuked  for  his  bearing  by  the  more  manly 
St.  Paul.3  Such  an  attitude  towards  those  round  provokes 
universal  hatred,  which  the  Metawilehs  liberally  return. 
Unless,  as  Captain  Conder  thinks,  they  are  Persian  Mos¬ 
lems,  they  may  be  an  apostate  body  of  Jews,  still  retaining 
1  Num.  xix.  11.  2  Acts  x.  28.  3  Gal.  ii.  12,  13. 

:>J 


370 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


tlie  ceremonial  law  of  Leviticus,  though  accepting  Ma¬ 
homet  as  the  Prophet  of  God. 

Prom  Safed  to  Lake  Huleh,  the  ancient  Sea  of 
Merom,  is  a  gradual  descent  of  nearly  3,000  feet,  over 
hill  and  dale,  the  valleys  running  mainly  east  and  west. 
Some  time  before  reaching  the  lake,  the  country  opens, 
and  the  lake  itself  lies  in  one  of  the  pleasantest  valleys 
of  Palestine.  The  sheet  of  water  is  about  two  miles 
broad  at  its  widest  part,  and  four  miles  long ;  hut  a 
great  marsh  of  papyrus  reed  stretches  for  nearly  six  miles 
north  of  the  clear  surface,  covering  from  one  to  three 
miles  in  breadth.  Through  this  flows  the  Jordan,  as  yet 
only  a  small  stream,  several  tributaries  joining  it  from 
different  wadys  on  its  course,  which,  as  it  passes  through 
the  miniature  forest,  widens  into  small  lakes,  the  haunt 
of  innumerable  water-fowl,  as  the  outer  beds  of  reeds 
are  the  lairs  of  swine  and  of  other  wild  beasts.  It  was 
to  this  region  that  Herod  the  Great  used  to  come  in  his 
early  manhood,  to  hunt  the  game  which  then  swarmed  in 
the  marshes  even  more  than  now,  distinguishing  himself 
by  the  strength  of  his  javelin-throw,  and  the  fierce  energy 
which  remained  untired  when  all  his  attendants  were  ex¬ 
hausted.  On  the  west,  the  Safed  hills  open  out  into 
long  sweeping  plains  and  vallej^s  of  pleasant  green  ;  but 
on  the  eastern  side  there  is  no  such  broad  border  of  open 
land,  the  hills  rising  close  to  the  pear-shaped  basin  of  the 
lake.  The  water  is  from  twenty  to  thirty  feet  deep,  its 
surface  lying  almost  exactly  on  the  same  level  as  the  sea, 
but  nearly  900  feet  above  the  Lake  of  Galilee.1 

It  was  in  this  district  that  the  great  battle  was  fought 
which  threw  Northern  Palestine  into  the  hands  of  Joshua. 
After  Ai  had  been  taken,  and  the  Southern  Canaanite 
league  had  been  driven  in  hideous  rout  down  the  pass  of 

1  Rielira. 


XLVI.] 


SAFED,  GI3CALA,  KADESH. 


371 


Betk-horon,  the  Israelite  leader  seems  to  have  found  Central 
Palestine  left  open  to  him  without  further  resistance,  not  a 
few  towns  being  deserted  in  the  terror  inspired  by  his  de¬ 
struction  of  Jericho  and  Ai.1  But  the  north  was  still  un¬ 
conquered,  and  found  a  champion  in  J ahin,  King  of  Hazor. 
This  ancient  capital  has  been  identified  by.  Sir  Charles 
Wilson  with  the  ruins  of  Harrah,  on  a  hill-top  about  a 
mile  back  from  the  west  side  of  the  lake ;  hut  Captain 
Conder  finds  it  in  Haderah,  about  three  miles  farther  in¬ 
land,  almost  in  the  same  direction.  Harrah  has  at  least 
the  more  striking  remains  to  justify  the  honour,  for  the 
hill-top  is  still  partly  surrounded  by  a  strong  enclosure,  ouce 
flanked  by  square  towers,  both  the  walls  and  the  towers 
being  built  of  great  blocks  of  rudely-hewn  stone,  put  to¬ 
gether  without  cement.  A  number  of  rock-cut  cisterns 
still  speak  of  the  water-supply  ;  and  foundations  formed  of 
polygonal  masses  of  stone  show  where  the  principal  struc¬ 
tures  of  the  city  have  been,  though  the  whole  site  has  for 
ages  been  desolate,  except  when  some  poor  shepherd  has 
driven  his  flock  to  pasture  among  the  ruins.  Pound  the 
king  of  this  primaeval  fortress-town  were  gathered  the 
heads  of  all  the  native  tribes  which  had  not  yet  yielded 
Joshua,  including  not  only  those  of  the  north,  but  some 
from  the  “ghor”  of  the  Jordan  south  of  the  Lake  of  Gali¬ 
lee  ;2  from  the  sea-coast  plain  of  Philistia;  from  the  slopes 
over  the  plain  of  Sharon  ;  and  from  the  recently-built  fort¬ 
ress  of  Jehus,  the  future  Jerusalem.  Indeed,  even  Hivite 
chieftains  from  the  valley  of  Baalbek,  under  the  shadow 
of  Hermon,  rallied  for  this  last  effort  to  drive  hack  the 
Hebrew  invasion.  All  these  “  went  out,  they  and  all  their 
hosts  with  them,  even  as  the  sand  is  upon  the  sea  shore  in 
multitude ;  and  when  all  these  kings  were  met  together, 
they  came  and  pitched  together  at  the  waters  of  Merom, 

1  Geikie,  Hours  with  the  Bible,  ii.  408.  2  Josli.  xi.  1. 

y  2 


372  THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE.  [Chap. 

to  fight  against  Israel.”1  At  Ai  and  Gibeon  the  battle 
had,  so  far  as  we  know,  been  one  of  infantry  only  ;  but 
the  main  strength  of  the  enemy  at  Merom  consisted  in 
“  horses  and  chariots  very  many,”  now  first  mentioned  in 
the  story  of  the  conquest,  though  familiar  to  us  in  con¬ 
nection  with  even  earlier  ages,  from  the  records  of  the  early 
Egyptian  kings  in  their  Palestine  campaigns.  Such  a 
force  could  not  act  in  the  hills,  and  therefore  the  wide 
plain  beside  Lake  Huleh  was  chosen  as  a  battle-field.  The 
Hebrews,  destined  to  live  in  the  hills,  could  not  employ 
cavalry,  and  for  this,  among  other  reasons,  were  prohibited 
from  making  use  of  it.  A  command  was  therefore  issued 
to  hough  the  horses  and  burn  the  chariots  which  they 
might  take,  thus  delaying  their  introduction  into  the 
nation  till  the  showy  reign  of  Solomon,  centuries  later. 
No  details  of  Joshua’s  movements  are  given,  beyond  the 
fact  that  on  the  eve  of  the  battle  he  was  within  a  day’s 
march  of  the  lake.  The  victory  was  apparently  gained  by 
the  suddenness  with  which  the  Hebrews  swooped  down 
from  the  hills  on  Jabin’s  confederacy,  throwing  them  into 
confusion  which  soon  turned  into  panic  and  headlong 
flight.  As  had  been  commanded,  the  horses  taken  were 
ham-strung  and  the  chariots  burned  ;  the  chase  after  the 
fugitives  continuing  westward  over  the  mountains  to 
Sidon,  on  the  coast,  and  eastward  we  know  not  how  far. 
This  victory  closed  the  serious  work  of  the  Israelite  cam¬ 
paigns,  and  left  the  land  open  to  the  tribes ;  Naphtali 
obtaining  the  region  of  Merom,  and  a  wide  stretch  north 
and  west.  But  the  Canaanites,  though  stunned  and  over¬ 
powered  for  the  time,  still  remained  more  numerous  than 
their  conquerors,  so  that  Hazor,  which  Joshua  had  burned 
to  the  ground,  was  in  after-times  rebuilt,  and  became  the 
capital  of  another  Jabin,  who  long  oppressed  the  northern 


1  Josli.  xi.  4,  5. 


XL  VI.] 


SAFED,  G1S0ALA,  KADESH. 


373 


tribes,  till  overthrown  by  the  crushing  defeat  of  his  general, 
Sisera,  in  the  great  battle  of  Tabor,  when  Deborah  and 
Barak  led  the  Hebrews.1 

Barak — “  the  Lightning  ” — was  a  native  of  Kadesli, 
the  ruins  of  which  lie  four  miles  north-west  of  El-Huleh, 
on  a  hill  overlooking  a  fine  plain  that  bears  the  same 
name.  A  modern  village,  with  a  population  of  perhaps 
200  Moslems,  its  stone  houses  very  ruinous,  stands  on  the 
spur  of  the  hill,  beside  a  good  spring,  and  a  rain-pond 
such  as  marks  nearly  every  Palestine  hamlet;  the  land 
around  is  arable,-  with  fig  and  olive  trees  interspersed. 
There  are  no  traces  now  of  the  Canaanite  city,  but  it  was 
one  of  the  oldest  in  the  land,  for  it  is  mentioned  in  the 
list  of  Thothmes  III.  of  Egypt,  who  conquered  Palestine 
about  1,000  years  before  Christ.  Barak,  as  a  native  of 
Kadesli,2  was  likely  to  feel  the  woes  of  his  people  intensely, 
living  as  he  did  in  the  very  midst  of  their  oppressors. 

“  Harosheth  of  the  Gentiles, ”  where  Sisera  lived,  seems 
to  have  been  a  stronghold  on  the  river  Kishon,  at  the  point 
where  the  northern  hills  come  closest  to  those  of  Carmel ; 
and  still  survives  in  the  village  of  El-Harathiyeh.  In 
Barak’s  battle  the  chariots  of  the  Canaan ites  would  be 
driven  towards  this  point  if  they  could  move  through  the 
softened  ground  at  all,  and  they  must  have  been  mixed 
in  hideous  confusion,  horses,  chariots,  and  men,  as  they 
crowded  into  the  jaws  of  the  pass,  which  is  often  only  a 
few  rods  wide.  The  river,  swollen  at  the  time  by  the 
tempest,  runs  in  constant  curves,  so  that,  in  such  a  fright¬ 
ful  pressure  of  men,  wheels,  and  beasts,  it  would  be  im¬ 
possible  to  avoid  being  hurled  into  it  at  many  points :  the 
deep  mud  as  well  as  the  waters  destroying  thousands. 
Harosheth  lies  about  eight  miles  from  Megiddo,  where 
the  entrance  to  Esdraelon  could  be  most  easily  barred. 

1  Jud£.  iv.  2.  2  Ju  ’g.  iv.  6. 


374 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


An  enormous  double  mound  near  El-Harathiyeh — tbe 
Arabic  form  of  the  word  Haroshetli — rises  just  below 
where  tbe  Kishon  beats  against  Carmel.  Here  rose  the 
castle  of  Sisera;  the  watch-tower  of  “  the  Gentiles  ”  who 
then  lorded  it  over  Israel.1 

If  Kadesh  has  nothing  to  reveal  of  these  old  times, 
there  are  abundant  remains  of  Homan  splendour — ruins 
of  temples,  tombs  built  of  huge  blocks  of  stone,  and  elabo¬ 
rately  carved  sarcophagi.  Such  structures,  in  so  secluded 
a  spot,  forcibly  proclaim  the  wealth  of  ancient  times,  and 
the  density  with  which  regions  now  desolate  for  ages  must 
once  have  been  peopled ;  for  what  must  that  empire  have 
been  which  could  create,  even  here,  such  an  astonishing 
display  of  architectural  splendour  ? 

Our  tents  were  pitched  on  a  rise  of  ground  under  the 
low  rocky  hills,  some  little  distance  from  the  lake.  A 
beautiful  pool  below  the  cliff,  which  rose  in  successive 
steps  mantled  with  green,  was  delightful  in  its  trembling 
clearness,  as  the  water  moved  towards  the  outlet  through 
which  it  flowed  in  a  soft  stream  to  the  lake,  past  a  small 
hamlet  of  wretched  huts.  This  camping-ground  was 
evidently  used  by  all  who  came  or  went  up  or  down  the 
lake,  for  the  ground  was  littered  with  broken  straw  and 
refuse.  There  was  plenty  of  space  to  set  up  the  tents 
where  these  annoyances  and  the  accompanying  vermin 
would  not  have  troubled  us,  but  the  ignorant  peasants  who 
managed  the  matter  had  no  conception  of  choosing  any 
but  the  one  spot  that  had  been  used  for  ages.  There  was 
nothing  for  it,  therefore,  but  to  get  the  ground  inside 
and  around  the  tent  swept  as  well  as  possible,  and  some 
of  the  largest  stones  taken  out  of  the  little  circle  which 
for  the  time  was  our  place  of  rest.  As  the  evening  drew 
on,  our  solitude  was  invaded  by  a  great  drove  of  mules, 

1  See  ante,  Yol.  II.,  p.  261. 


XLYL] 


SAEED,  G-ISCALA,  KADESH. 


375 


laden  with,  huge  nettings  full  of  brown  jars,  coming  from 
Damascus  to  the  south.  To  get  these  jars  off  without 
breaking  seemed  impossible,  yet  it  was  the  simplest  matter 
in  the  world  when  one  knew  how  to  do  it.  The  loosening 
of  a  string  enabled  the  sensible  creature  to  walk  from 
beneath  its  burden,  which  was  sustained  by  two  men  on 
each  side,  and  then  carried  to  a  corner,  where  all  the  loads 
were  speedily  set  down  in  rows.  Next  came  a  dozen 
mules  and  asses  with  walnuts  from  Lebanon,  the  unclean 
crowd  of  drivers  of  both  jars  and  fruit  taking  up  their 
quarters  for  the  night  on  the  ground  beside  us,  after  cook¬ 
ing  their  simple  evening  meal.  Some  of  the  peasants  from 
points  near  the  lake  soon  visited  the  varied  gathering ; 
among  them  a  poor  man  ill  of  ague,  and  an  unfortunate 
child  so  bitten  by  vermin  that  he  seemed  covered  with  a 
violent  eruption. 

The  fellahiu,  or  peasants,  of  the  Holy  Land  seem 
from  their  language  to  be  descendants,  though  of  mixed 
blood,  of  the  old  Bible  races  of  the  land.  They  may 
be  regarded,  in  fact,  as  modern  Canaanites,  for  it  is 
quite  certain  that  no  vicissitudes  of  history  ever  destroy 
a  whole  people,  and  the  Scriptures  tell  us  that  in  the 
case  of  the  Hebrew  occupation  of  the  country,  many 
of  the  old  inhabitants  remained  among  the  settlements 
of  the  invaders.  In  the  same  way  large  numbers  of 
the  old  British  race  continued  to  live  among  the  early 
English,  after  the  successful  descents  on  our  country 
from  beyond  the  sea ;  and  our  present  population  shows 
that  when  these  conquerors  were  in  their  turn  subdued 
by  invaders,  they  were  very  far  from  being  extirpated. 
The  country  dialect  of  Palestine  is  a  survival  of  the  old 
Aramaic,  spoken  by  the  mass  of  the  people  in  the  da}^s 
of  Christ,  and  closely  connected  with  the  Hebrew  of  the 
Bible.  Thus,  almost  all  words  describing  natural  features, 


m  THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE.  [Chap. 

such  as  rocks,  torrents,  pools,  springs,  and  the  like,  are 
the  same  on  the  lips  of  the  peasantry  of  to-day  as  they  are 
in  the  pages  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  though  Arabic  has 
necessarily,  in  the  course  of  ages,  influenced  the  local 
vocabulary,  the  Mahommedan  conquest  bringing  with  it 
that  language. 

The  religion  of  Palestine  is  jDrofessedly  Mahommed- 
anism,  but  though  the  forms  of  that  creed  are  maintained 
in  large  towns,  I  very  seldom  saw  any  traces  of  it  in 
country  parts,  for  mosques  are  almost  unknown  in  small 
places,  and  prayer  in  public,  so  constantly  seen  in  other 
Mahommedan  regions,  is  very  rare.  There  is,  however, 
in  nearly  every  village,  a  small  whitewashed  building  with 
a  low  dome — the  “mukam,”  or  “  place/’  sacred  to  the  eyes 
of  the  peasants ;  the  word  for  it  being  still  that  used  in 
the  Bible  for  the  holy  “  places  ”  of  the  Canaanites,  “  upon 
the  high  mountains,  and  upon  the  hills,  and  under  every 
green  tree.”1  In  almost  every  landscape  such  a  landmark 
gleams  from  the  top  of  some  hill,  just  as,  doubtless,  some¬ 
thing  of  the  same  kind  did  in  the  old  Canaanite  ages  ;  or 
you  meet  it  under  some  spreading  tree  covered  with 
offerings  of  rags  tied  to  the  branches,  or  near  a  fountain ; 
the  trees  overshadowing  them  being  held  so  sacred  that 
every  twig  falling  from  them  is  reverently  stored  inside 
the  “mukam.”  Anything  a  peasant  wishes  to  guard  from 
theft  is  perfectly  safe  if  put  within  such  a  holy  building. 
Ho  one  will  touch  it,  for  it  is  believed  that  every  struc¬ 
ture  of  this  kind  is  the  tomb  of  some  holy  man,  whose 
spirit  hovers  near,  and  would  be  offended  by  any  want 
of  reverence  to  his  resting-place.  Nor  is  this  supersti¬ 
tion  without  countenance  from  another  practice,  for  it  is 
no  uncommon  thing  to  see  an  empty  shrine  of  plastered 

1  Dent.  xii.  2.  The  word  is  “  makom  ”  in  Hebrew,  and  “mukam”  in 
the  present  language  of  the  country. 


XLVI.] 


SAEED,  GISOALA,  KADESH. 


377 


brick,  built  so  that  the  imaginary  dead  should  lie  on  the 
right  side,  facing  Mecca,  But,  amidst  this  fanciful  sim¬ 
plicity,  the  spirit  of  true  religion,  found  in  some  measure 
in  even  the  rudest  of  faiths,  is  delightfully  symbolised 
by  the  presence  of  a  pitcher  of  cold  water,  put  each  day 
by  kindly  hands  inside  the  door,  to  refresh  the  thirsty 
traveller. 

The  departed  saints,  or  sheikhs,  of  these  “  mukams,” 
are  the  local  gods  of  the  peasantry ;  some  of  them  being 
supposed  to  have  power  for  a  greater,  others  for  a 
smaller,  distance  round  the  shrines  which  commemorate 
them.  To  please  them  brings  benefits  of  all  kinds ; 
to  offend  them  is  the  worst  of  bad  fortune  :  a  belief  so 
deeply  rooted  that  a  man  would  rather  confess  a  crime,  if 
taken  to  a  “  mukam,”  than  perjure  himself  in  the  hearing 
of  the  saint,  and  thus  incur  his  ghostly  displeasure.  No 
one  will  enter  such  a  “  place  ”  without  first  taking  off  his 
shoes.  If  there  be  sickness  in  a  house,  the  wife  or  mother 
will  light  a  lamp  and  put  it  in  the  holy  building ;  and 
sheep  are  at  times  killed  near  it,  and  eaten  as  a  sacrificial 
feast  in  honour  of  the  “  sheikh.”  Processions,  again,  are 
made  to  these  lowly  sanctuaries,  as  I  have  myself  seen  on 
more  than  one  occasion  ;  the  men,  rich  and  poor,  march¬ 
ing  in  their  best  clothes,  with  rude  music  before  them, 
closing  their  pilgrimage  by  a  solemn  “zikr,”  in  which, 
a  ring  having  been  formed,  they  chant  verses  from  the 
Koran,  amidst  wild  swaying  backwards  and  forwards,  and 
great  excitement.  It  is  a  strange  fact  in  connection  with 
these  “  mukams  ”  that  in  many  cases  the  names  of  the 
“  sheikhs  ”  supposed  to  rest  under  them  are  simply  those 
of  apostles  or  other  Christian  heroes,  such  as  St.  Paul,  St. 
Peter,  St.  Matthew,  and  St.  Gfeorge.  The  peasantry  have, 
in  fact,  continued  their  own  worship  on  sites  once  occupied 
by  churches  of  the  Crusaders,  and,  in  their  simple  ignorance, 


378 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


have  adopted  Christian  saints  as  their  local  divinities. 
This  may,  perhaps,  show  that  amidst  all  the  corruption 
and  degeneracy  of  the  European  invaders  of  the  two  Cru¬ 
sading  centuries,  there  was  not  a  little  that  was  good  :  a 
conjecture  wdiich  is  supported  by  the  fact  that  kindly 
traditions  of  the  benevolence  of  the  monks  in  their  con¬ 
vents  still  liuger  in  such  names  as  “  the  Monastery  of 
Good  Luck,”  “  the  Charitable  Convent,”  and  the  like,  by 
which  some  of  them  are  lovingly  remembered  even  to  this 
day.  Depend  upon  it,  there  was  many  a  good  soldier  of 
Jesus  Christ  in  those  times,  in  all  sections  of  the  Church, 
just  as  there  are  many,  thank  God,  now. 

Utterly  uneducated,  generation  after  generation,  the 
ignorance  of  the  peasants  is  extreme.  Nothing  is  too 
childish  for  them  to  believe.  Dervishes,  or  holy  men, 
wander  over  the  land,  often  poor  and  filthy,  and  always 
living  on  alms,  but  everywhere  greatly  venerated.  Some 
of  them  are  snake-charmers,  others  eat  scorpions,  and  still 
others  pierce  their  cheeks  with  knives ;  but  many  seem 
to  rely  principally  on  their  dirtiness.  Evil  spirits  have  a 
great  place  in  the  thoughts  of  the  peasant.  The  “  jan,” 
who  has  for  a  body  the  tall  sand-pillars  of  the  whirlwind, 
appals  him  ;  the  “  afrit  ”  is  the  equivalent  of  our  ghost ; 
the  ghoul  of  the  graveyard  feeds  on  the  dead;  goblins  play 
all  manner  of  antic  tricks ;  and,  to  close  all,  there  is  Satan, 
the  arch  enemy.  Along  the  roads,  or  rather  tracks,  little 
piles  of  stones  often  recur,  at  points  from  which  some 
famous  holy  place  is  first  visible. 

A  village  in  Palestine  is  wretched  beyond  conception, 
consisting  of  miserable  cabins,  stuck  down  in  no  order, 
with  a  lane  a  few  feet  broad  for  a  passage  between  them; 
the  material  sometimes  mud ;  sometimes  mud  and  loose 
stones  ;  the  shape  square  ;  the  flat  mud  roof  supported  on 
rough  crooked  poles  and  covered  with  grass,  wreeds,  or 


XLVL] 


SAFED,  GISCALA,  KADESH. 


379 


stalks  of  maize ;  the  door  a  mere  apology  for  protection. 
There  cannot  he  said  to  he  any  furniture,  and  any  idea  of 
cleanliness  seems  unknown.  The  men  spend  their  time 
in  agriculture,  often  miles  away  from  their  home ;  the 
children  look  after  the  sheep  and  goats ;  the  women  fetch 
water,  grind  the  flour,  and  do  what  little  cooking  is 
needed.  The  food  of  the  community  is  principally  bread 
dipped  in  oil,  rice,  olives,  syrup  of  grapes,  melted  butter, 
eggs,  and  vegetables. 

But  to  resume :  the  mules,  with  their  pottery  and 
walnuts,  were  gone  before  daylight,  at  5'30,  so  that  at 
breakfast  we  had  the  place  to  ourselves.  That  English¬ 
men  should  he  passing  was  enough  to  bring  a  poor  man, 
ill  of  dropsy,  with  his  wife,  mother,  and  child,  to  see  if 
he  could  get  relief.  My  companion  fortunately  had  his 
tapping  instrument  with  him,  and  operated  on  the  poor 
sufferer,  and  as  he  gradually  found  relief,  the  gratitude  of 
the  little  group  knew  no  hounds.  Several  sick  people 
had  been  gladdened  the  night  before  by  doses  from  the 
few  phials  I  had  with  me,  and  the  news  had  spread,  for, 
except  in  the  case  of  a  traveller  passing,  there  is  no  such 
thing  as  even  an  approach  to  medical  help.  To  see  the 
poor  folks  crowding  round  the  tent  brought  to  mind  the 
story  how,  “  at  even,  when  the  sun  did  set,  they  brought 
unto  Him  all  that  were  diseased,  .  .  .  and  all  the  city 
was  gathered  together  at  the  door,  and  He  healed  many 
that  were  sick  of  divers  diseases.”1  How  wretched  is  the 
position  of  the  poor  noAV,  as  it  was  then,  with  no  medical 
help  available,  or  even  any  rude  recipes  resulting  from 
hereditary  experience  and  observation ;  doomed  simply 
to  endure,  without  alleviation,  whatever  ailments  may 
befall  them !  Civilisation  has  a  bright  side  in  this  respect, 
if  it  have  its  spots  in  others. 

1  Matt.  viii.  1G ;  Mark  i.  32. 


CHAPTER  XL VII. 


MEROM,  DAN,  BELFOR 

There  comd  hardly  be  a  more  beautiful  place  than  the 
Lake  of  Merom,  or  El-Huleli.  The  rich  plains,  here  brown 
with  tilth,  there  bright  with  crops,  yonder  stretching  out 
in  succulent  pastures  dotted  with  flocks ;  the  blue  lake 
sleeping  beneath  the  hills,  long  reed-beds  bending  their 
feathery  tops  in  the  soft  air,  silver  streams  netting  the 
landscape ;  the  waters  full  of  water-fowl,  the  trees  vocal 
with  birds,  the  flowers  humming  with  bees ;  the  native 
hamlet,  the  Arab  camp,  the  herdsman  afield,  the  ploughs, 
drawn  by  ox,  or  ass,  or  camel,  slowly  moving  over  the  lea  ; 
the  Hat-headed  black  buffalo  delighting  himself  in  the 
pools  and  the  soft  marshy  coolness  ;  the  whole  canopied 
by  a  sky  of  crystal  clearness  and  infinite  height, — make 
up  a  landscape  of  exceeding  beauty. 

Twenty  more  asses,  laden  with  tobacco  from  Damascus, 
passed  us,  going  south ;  and  at  some  parts  oxen  were  busy 
ploughing.  The  stream  from  our  camping-place  ran,  fair 
and  broad,  across  the  meadows  to  the  lake ;  and  the  great 
bed  of  reeds,  which  till  lately  threatened  to  gradually  cover 
the  whole  of  the  lake,  had  been  in  part  cut  down  by  a  rich 
Christian  from  Beirout,  who  had  bought  a  tract  of  the 
marsh,  and,  having  drained  it,  was  raising  good  crops  from 
some  portions  of  it.  Even  now,  however,  the  reeds  cover 
a  greater  surface  than  the  clear  water,  and  they  have  a 
tendency  to  advance,  on  account  of  the  quantities  of  soil 


Chap.  XLVIL] 


ME  ROM,  BAN,  BELFORT. 


381 


that  arc  brought  down  hj  the  streams  from  the  north,  and 
which  fill  up  the  hollow  basin,  and  will,  in  the  end,  turn 
the  lake  itself  into  a  meadow,  with  a  channel  passing 
through  it.  Flocks  of  sheep  were  numerous  on  the  right, 
over  the  mile  and  a  half  between  our  track  and  the  water, 
hut  the  hills  kept  close  to  us  on  the  left.  To  the  north, 
the  glorious  snowy  brightness  of  Hermon  and  Lebanon 
looked  down  from  the  upper  skies. 

As  we  went  on,  all  the  soil  was  given  up  to  pasture, 
being  too  moist,  I  suppose,  for  any  crop  hut  rice,  which 
is  sown,  though  not  on  a  large  scale,  b}r  the  Arabs.  Black 
cattle  with  white  faces — a  cross,  I  should  think,  with  the 
buffalo — became  numerous.  On  the  liill-side  and  towards 
it  the  ground  was  in  parts  stony.  Broom,  covered  with 
golden  blossom,  carried  one’s  thoughts  to  far-distant  lands. 
Here  and  there,  on  the  slopes,  cow-houses  of  stone  were  to 
be  seen  with  thab  h  *d  roofs,  slanting  from  a  high  back 
wall,  with  no  windows,  hut  only  a  door,  the  property  of 
the  Arabs  of  the  district,  a  half-settled  tribe,  on  this 
account  reckoned  degraded  by  the  tent  Bedouin.  Their 
houses,  built  of  reeds,  with  round  tops,  stand  at  intervals 
on  the  low  land  bordering  the  lake,  though  at  some  dis¬ 
tance  from  its  margin.  The  reeds  having  been  woven  into 
coarse  mats,  these  are  hung  up  against  a  framework  of 
poles,  and  thus  flimsy  hut  sufficient  dwellings  are  made — 
sufficient,  that  is,  in  the  warmer  seasons  ;  but  there  were 
black  tents,  also,  showing  that  the  traditions  of  the  de¬ 
sert  had  not  been  forgotten.  It  was  thus,  I  apprehend, 
in  Israel,  perhaps  to  the  last,  for  even  Zecliariah  speaks 
of  “the  tents  of  Judah,”1  though  he  lived  about  700 
years  after  the  occupation  of  Palestine  by  his  nation,  and 
the  consequent  adoption  of  settled  life. 

Sumach-trees,  one  of  the  glories  of  America,  but  not 


i 


Zech.  xii.  7. 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


common  in  England,  grew  in  great  clumps  along  the  road, 
and  there  were  two  or  three  fine  oaks,  low  compared  with 
our  oaks,  hut  high  for  Palestine.  These  are  still  sacred, 
as  in  olden  times,1  and  their  shade  has  not  ceased  to 
he  chosen  as  the  special  spot  for  prayer.  Idols  were  set  up 
in  Ezekiel’s  time  under  such  trees,2  and  incense  used  to  be 
burned  under  them  to  the  images.3  Three  Arab  women 
were  sitting  on  the  grass  beside  one,  chatting  together,  and 
enjoying  the  mild  excitement  of  looking  at  our  small  caval¬ 
cade.  As  we  came  nearer  the  top  of  the  marsh-bed,  though 
still  a  good  way  from  it,  a  fine  stream  flowed  out  from 
beneath  the  hills,  which  at  this  point  came  down  roughly 
to  the  roadside.  On  the  right  there  was  more  ploughed 
land;  and  one  of  the  great  tributaries  of  the  Jordan 
was  winding  through  the  reeds  half  a  mile  off.  I  counted 
fifteen  horses,  besides  a  number  of  cattle,  feeding  on  a  sweet 
strip  of  meadow  outside  the  marsh ;  and  close  to  us  flocks 
of  black  goats  were  nibbling  among  the  cliffs  on  the  left. 
In  a  field,  or  rather  belt — for  there  are  no  separate  fields — • 
on  the  right,  twelve  yoke  of  buffaloes — that  is,  black,  flat¬ 
headed  oxen — were  ploughing  the  land  for  sowing  maize, 
reminding  one  of  Elisha’s  twelve  yoke,  which  he  left  to 
follow  Elijah.4  Eight  asses,  laden  with  reed  mats,  poles, 
and  household  stuff',  pattered  slowly  by.  The  mother  of 
the  family  walked  at  their  side,  bearing  a  great  bundle 
of  long  reeds  on  her  head ;  the  father,  a  grown  son,  and 
a  child  rode  on  asses ;  mean-spirited  creatures  that  they 
were,  to  let  the  woman  trudge  along,  laden,  while  they 
journeyed  at  their  ease.  At  one  place  wheat  was  growing 
both  right  and  left  of  the  track.  More  stone  cow-houses 
appeared  on  ledges  of  the  hills,  and  new  clusters  of  black 
tents  and  reed  houses  on  the  low  ground.  There  were  in 
all  twenty-four  of  these  houses  in  one  village,  some  with 
1  Isa.  i.  29.  2  Ezck.  vi.  13.  3  Hos.  iv.  13.  4  1  Kings  xix.  19. 


XL  VII.] 


MEROM,  DA  1ST,  BELFORT. 


383 


the  round  top  covered  with  camel-wool  tent-cloth.  A  camel 
and  some  horses  and  cattle  were  about,  and  some  very  dirty 
children,  in  great  glee,  driving  three  kids.  A  man  sat 
outside  one  of  the  houses,  weaving  in  a  rude  frame  the 
reed  mats  of  which  they  are  built  ;  the  reeds,  twelve  feet 
high,  growing  at  this  place  up  to  the  very  road.  A  strip 
of  beans  was  to  be  seen  at  the  roadside. 

A  little  further  on,  a  man  passed  with  a  long  goad  in 
his  hand,  and  on  my  asking  him  to  let  me  see  it,  kindly 
handed  it  to  me.  On  one  end  there  was  a  small  spud,  or 
spade,  to  clear  the  coulter  from  earth  when  ploughing ; 
at  the  other  a  sharp  iron  point  stuck  out,  with  short  iron 
chains  in  loops  below  it :  the  prick  to  urge  on  the  cattle  ; 
the  chains  to  startle  them  into  activity  by  the  sudden  noise 
when  they  were  rattled.  This  is  the  goad  against  which  it 
was  foolish  for  the  ox  to  kick  :  an  implement  so  familiar  to 
St.  Paul  from  daily  observation,  that  it  could  be  used  as  a 
figure  by  our  Lord  in  the  heavenly  vision.1  As  we  came  to 
the  head  of  the  reed-beds,  the  Arab  reed  and  tent  villages 
increased  in  number,  and  I  was  pleased  to  see  long  drains 
cut  in  the  swamp,  through  the  black  soil,  so  that  the  now 
firm  surface  could  be  ploughed.  The  ground  from  the  road 
to  the  hills  on  our  left  was  very  stony,  and  the  reed  houses 
presented  the  new  feature  of  having  their  roofs  anchored 
by  ropes  passed  over  them,  and  secured  at  each  side  by 
heavy  stones.  The  stone  cow-houses  on  the  hill-slopes 
were  even  better  than  those  I  had  passed — long  and  well 
built,  with  rounded  roofs  of  small  stones  bedded  deeply  in 
lime.  At  one  village,  iron  pots  for  cooking  lay  outside 
some  of  the  houses — possibly  from  our  own  Birmingham  ; 
hand-mill-stones,  water- jars,  and  home-made  baskets  were 
at  several  doors :  the  whole  simple  household  apparatus 
of  the  family.  Calves,  liens,  dogs,  and  dirty  children 

1  Acts  ix.  5. 


384 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AKD  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


enjoyed  themselves  in  the  sun.  Mares  and  their  foals 
nibbled  the  herbage ;  but  few  men  or  women  were  to  be 
seen.  They  were  busy  inside,  or  elsewhere. 

Rounding  the  head  of  the  marsh,  we  saw  a  wide  stretch 
of  rich,  flat,  wet  meadow  reaching  away  to  the  south,  with 
great  numbers  of  cattle  and  buffaloes,  belonging  to  the 
Arabs,  feeding  on  it,  but  there  were  no  peasants.  The 
Arabs  had  driven  them  out.  A  piece  of  specially  swampy 
ground  had  to  be  crossed,  but  in  a  dry  space  there  was  a 
very  fine  field  of  beans.  The  cliffs  rose  nobty  behind  us, 
swallows  were  skimming  overhead,  and  wheat  was  grow¬ 
ing  strong  and  deeply  green  under  the  hills.  Another 
reed  village  lay  at  this  point,  and  there  were  more  buf¬ 
faloes,  with  green  meadows  stretching  out  for  miles  below 
the  framework  of  hills.  The  soil  appeared  bottomless,  if 
one  might  judge  from  the  deep  wading  of  the  horses 
through  the  soft  mud,  half  liquefied  by  springs  oozing  out 
everywhere  to  the  marsh.  The  hills  came  close  on  our 
left,  and  rose  stony  and  bare ;  covered  at  this  place  with 
boulders  of  black  basalt,  showing  an  old  volcanic  outburst. 

We  now  passed  into  the  charming  gorge  of  the  river 
ITasbany :  the  aggregate  of  many  tributaries,  rushing  in 
a  bright,  musical  stream  towards  El-Huleh.  Green  slopes 
below  fine  crags,  a  fringe  of  oleanders  over  the  glittering 
stream,  and  the  glorious  sky  overhead,  made  a  lovely 
picture.  We  rested  at  the  bridge  El-Ghajar,  in  the 
middle  of  the  day,  for  refreshment,  amidst  a  paradise  of 
waters  and  verdure.  The  bridge,  dating  from  Roman 
times,  has  gradually  disappeared,  till  only  a  single  row  of 
the  keystones  of  the  arch  remains,  and  before  long  this, 
too,  will  have  fallen.  The  strong  buttresses  are  still  in 
good  repair,  showing  what  the  whole  bridge  must  once 
have  been  ;  but  decay  has  marked  Palestine  for  its  own, 
and  the  mock  government  of  the  barbarian  Turk  makes  not 


XL  VII.] 


MEROM,  BAN,  BELFORT. 


385 


the  slightest  attempt  at  improvement.  The  Hasbany  is 
much  the  longest  branch  of  the  Jordan,  flowing  from  the 
distant  glens  of  Lebanon,  but,  besides  it,  there  are  the 
Leddan,  which  is  by  far  the  largest,  and  the  Banias, 
which  is  the  most  beautiful.  There  is  also  another  stream 
of  good  size,  which  flows  from  the  plain  of  Ijon,  north¬ 
west  of  Dan,  and  helps  to  fill  the  channel  of  the  Jordan. 
The  whole  region,  indeed,  is  rich  in  fountains,  the  drain¬ 
age  of  the  mighty  chain  of  Lebanon  bursting,  almost  in 
full-grown  rivers  in  many  cases,  from  the  foot  of  the 
mountains,  or  through  the  fissures  of  valley-slopes.  The 
hills  on  the  east  side  of  the  great  papyrus-marsh  of  El- 
Huleh  recede  towards  the  north,  leaving  a  wide  tract  dry 
enough  for  cultivation,  and  largely  subdued  by  the  plough, 
with  results  which  make  it  the  boast  of  this  region  for 
its  fertility. 

Towards  Dan,  on  the  slopes  above  the  bridge  over  the 
Hasbany,  I  noticed  a  circle  of  stones :  the  first  I  had 
seen  in  Palestine.  There  are  hundreds  of  such  stone 
monuments  in  Moab,  and  not  a  few  elsewhere  :  the  memo¬ 
rials  of  sun-worship,  the  primitive  faith  of  the  land.  On 
each  of  the  larger  stones  was  a  pile  of  small  ones,  and  rags 
tied  to  the  bushes  around  fluttered  in  the  breeze.  The 
piles  of  small  stones  were  crowned  in  many  cases  with 
bits  of  pottery :  votive  offerings,  I  presume,  of  the  simple 
peasant  or  Arab  to  the  divinity  supposed  by  his  fathers  to 
haunt  the  spot,  and  still  half  believed  in  by  himself. 

Tell-el-Kadi — “the  Mound  of  the  Judge,”  Kadi,  like 
Dan,  meaning  a  judge — is  the  site  of  the  once  famous 
place,  at  first  known  as  Laisli,  which  was  for  ages  re¬ 
nowned  as  the  northern  ecclesiastical  capital  of  the  Ten 
Tribes.  From  the  Hasbany  it  is  reached  by  crossing  a 
delightful  rolling  country,  rich  in  grass  and  more  ambi¬ 
tious  verdure.  The  “tell”  is  a  great  mound  330  paces 
z 


386 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


long,  270  broad,  and  from  thirty  to  thirty-eight  feet  above 
the  plain  around.  On  the  top  is  a  Moslem  tomb,  under  a 
fine  oak.  Water  abounds  on  every  hand,  but  the  most 
copious  stream  is  on  the  west  of  the  mound,  amidst  a 
thicket  of  oleanders.  This  thicket  covers  the  rough  sides 
of  a  stony  slope,  strewn  with  masses  of  basalt.  Making 
your  wa}^  down  through  the  bushes,  you  come  presently 
on  a  large  pool,  about  fifty  paces  across  :  the  outburst  of 
the  Jordan  from  the  earth :  at  its  very  birth  full  as  a 
river.  This  amazing  fountain  is  twice  as  large  a  stream 
as  that  of  Banias,  and  three  times  as  large  as  that  of  the 
Hasbany,  and  forms,  with  these,  the  sacred  river  Jordan, 
after  they  all  unite  in  Lake  Huleh.  Great  myrtle-trees, 
figs,  and  brambles,  mingled  with  the  predominant  olean¬ 
ders,  guard  the  pool  from  easy  access,  but  it  was  not 
always  so,  for  the  stones  of  a  fine  wall,  now  for  the  most 
part  fallen  into  the  waters,  show  that  the  spring  was 
once  carefully  fenced  in  by  human  hands.  Besides  this 
source  of  the  river,  there  is  another  higher  up  the  slope, 
down  which  it  rushes  till  it  mingles  with  its  twin 
fountain. 

On  the  mound,  two  great  oaks,  wide-branching,  over¬ 
look  a  plateau  covered  with  venerable  ruins,  now  fallen  to 
such  utter  decay  as  to  be  mere  isolated  stones  and  wreck. 
This,  I  should  think,  is  the  site  of  the  citadel  of  Dan. 
Bound  the  whole  plateau,  moreover,  are  mounds  which 
appear  to  be  the  remains  of  the  ancient  walls,  and,  in¬ 
deed,  at  many  points  in  the  circuit  stones  are  still  in 
their  original  positions.  Patches  of  grain  had  been  sown 
where  crowded  streets  once  extended,  but  the  ground 
was  too  stony  for  a  great  crop.  It  was  too  early  to 
distinguish,  either  here  or  elsewhere,  any  tares  that 
might  be  springing  amid  the  grain,  but  there  must 
have  been  abundance  of  them,  for  the  Arab  “  zawan,” 


XL  VII.] 


MEROM,  DAN,  BELFORT. 


387 


which  is  just  the  New  Testament  fy^avcov,  or  “  tare,” 
abounds  everywhere,  and  is  a  great  trouble  to  the  peasant. 
Before  it  comes  into  ear  it  is  very  like  wheat,  and  hence 
is  often  left  till  the  harvest,  lest  “  while  men  pluck  up  the 
tares,  they  should  root  up  also  the  wheat  with  them.”1 
Sometimes,  indeed,  the  stalks  are  pulled  up  while  the  grain 
is  still  green ;  the  women  I  saw  weeding  the  fields  in 
Samaria  were  probably  thus  employed,  though  it  is  a 
very  doubtful  policy  to  attempt  a  separation  of  the  weed 
from  the  corn  thus  early.  After  the  “  zawan  ”  has  come 
into  ear,  however,  anyone  can  tell  it  from  the  wheat ;  but 
its  presence  is  a  sore  distress  to  the  husbandman  from  its 
noxious  qualities,  should  any  of  its  seed  mix  with  the 
grain.  It  was  a  most  hateful  malignity,  therefore,  for  an 
enemy  to  sow  tares  in  the  grain-patches ;  involving  in 
any  case  immense  labour  and  anxiety,  and  threatening 
the  run  of  the  crop,  for  darnel  or  “zawan”  left  after 
threshing  makes  the  wheat  poisonous,  causing  dizziness, 
vomiting,  and  even  convulsions.  The  whole  of  the  in¬ 
mates  of  the  Sheffield  workhouse,  some  years  ago,  un¬ 
willingly  illustrated  this  by  a  universal  sickness,  which 
was  traced  to  the  presence  of  this  seed  in  their  food. 

Dan  and  its  neighbourhood  are  famous  in  Bible  story. 
Near  it  took  place  the  surprise  of  Chedorlaomer  and  his 
allies  by  Abraham,  with  his  retainers  and  confederates, 
when  Lot  and  his  family  were  rescued  from  slavery.  It 
was  a  long  journey  from  Hebron  to  this  place,  but  the 
father  of  the  faithful  was  as  energetic  in  this  his  one  war¬ 
like  undertaking  as  if  he  had  been  a  professional  soldier. 
Hurrying  past  Bethlehem  and  Jehus,  sweeping  over  the 
broad  plains  of  Nablus  and  Esdraelon,  and  then  climbing 
the  hills  of  Galilee,  he  attacked  his  foe,  if  Josephus  be 
right,  on  the  fifth  night  from  his  starting.  The  paradise 

i  Matt.  xiii.  25-30. 


388 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


around  Dan  had  lulled  the  enemy  into  that  careless  security 
which  has  been  the  ruin  of  so  many  Eastern  armies.  Like 
Gideon  in  after-times,  the  patriarch  seems  to  have  fallen 
upon  the  foe  in  the  night,  that  darkness  might  increase  the 
alarm,  and  make  the  rout  more  hopeless.  In  wild  terror, 
the  host  fled  through  swamps,  over  hills,  through  thickets, 
pursued  by  their  vigorous  assailants,  till  they  reached 
Hobali,  on  the  left  hand  of  Damascus.1  Only  then  did 
Abraham  return  to  Dan,  collecting  the  booty  cast  away 
in  flight,  and  adding  it  to  the  spoils  of  the  abandoned 
camp. 

Of  the  second  great  battle- scene  of  the  district — the 
defeat  of  Jabin  by  Joshua — I  have  already  spoken  ;  a  third 
strange  episode  in  the  local  history,  was  the  seizure  of 
Laish  by  the  foragers  from  the  narrow  limits  of  Dan,  on 
the  slopes  above  the  Philistine  plain,  when  the  name  was 
changed  to  that  of  the  victorious  tribe.  Laish  was  a 
colony  of  Phoenicians  from  Sidon,  who  were  busied,  like 
their  mother  city,  in  the  pursuit  of  gain,  “  dwelling  care¬ 
lessly,  after  the  manner  of  the  Zidonians,  quiet  and 
secure.”2  Far  from  help,  and  injuring  no  one,  they  little 
dreamed  what  was  to  follow  the  visit  of  five  strangers 
who  one  day  strolled  into  their  town  :  fresh  customers, 
they  might  fancy,  for  their  Tyrian  wares.  These  visitors 
were  spies,  sent  from  Samson’s  country — Zorah  and 
Eshtaol — to  report  to  their  brethren  as  to  the  like¬ 
liest  field  to  which  they  might  emigrate,  far  from  the 
alarms  of  Philistines,  and  with  more  space  than  the 
hill-sides  of  their  assigned  district  afforded.  Six  hun¬ 
dred  men,  fully  armed,  silently  creeping  up  to  the  Laish 
gates,  not  long  after,  were  the  terrible  issue  of  the  story 
brought  back  by  the  pioneers.  There  was  no  mercy  in 
those  days  to  any,  except  where  a  treaty  had  secured 
1  Gen.  xiv.  15.  2  Juclg.  xviii.  27—29. 


XL VII.]  MEROM,  DAN,  BELFORT.  389 

friendship.  To  belong  to  another  race  was  enough  to 
justify  massacre.  Wholly  unprepared,  Laish  fell  an  easy 
prey,  hut  that  did  not  save  it ;  the  town  was  burned  to  the 
ground,  after  every  creature  in  it  had  been  put  to  the 
sword.  Foolish  enough,  one  would  think;  for  the  destruc¬ 
tion  of  the  place  was  so  much  loss  of  capital  and  labour, 
that  needed  to  be  at  once  expended  anew,  and  the  poor 
citizens  would  have  been  useful  at  least  as  slaves.  But 
antiquity  knew  no  kindness  beyond  the  limits  of  a  tribe 
and  its  allies.  Strangers  were  enemies,  to  be  killed  like 
wild  beasts.  The  world  has  made  some  progress  since 
those  days,  thank  God.  The  mixture  of  religion  and 
ruffianism  in  these  Danites  is  passing  strange.  On  their 
way  they  had  plundered  Micali  of  his  gods,  which  were 
worth  a  great  deal  of  money,  and  had  carried  off  his  priest, 
for  they  must  have  religion ;  and,  finally,  while  their 
hands  were  still  red  with  the  massacre  of  a  whole  popula¬ 
tion,  they  set  up  the  stolen  idols,  and  thought  themselves 
safe  under  Divine  protection ;  especially  as  a  descendant 
of  Moses  was  their  priest.1 

A  little  to  the  west  lies  the  village  of  Abil — known,  in 
David’s  time,  as  Abel-beth-Maacliah — on  a  hill  on  the 
east  side  of  the  Derdarali,  one  of  the  tributaries  of  the 
Jordan.  Here  it  was  that  the  embers  of  a  revolt  headed 
by  one  Sheba,  a  Benjamite,  were  stamped  out  by  Joab,  after 
the  latter  had,  on  his  march  north,  basely  murdered  his 
rival  Amasa,  David’s  nephew,  at  the  great  stone  in  Gibeon, 
leaving  him  wallowing  in  his  blood  “  in  the  midst  of  the 
highway,”  and  striding  on  with  the  spurted  hlood  of  his 
victim  all  over  him,  from  his  girdle  to  his  sandals.2  The 
rams  were  already  battering  the  town  walls  when  a  shrewd 
woman  from  the  top  of  the  battlements  proposed  to  buy 

1  Geikie,  Hours  with  the  Bible,  ii.  450. 

2  2  Sam.  xx.  10  ;  1  Kings  ii.  5 


390 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


peace  by  throwing  over  the  bead  of  the  rebel.  This  done, 
the  assailants  retired.  In  those  days  Abel-beth-Maachah 
was  “  a  mother  in  Israel,”  that  is,  so  prosperous  that  the 
villages  round  were  regarded  as  offshoots  from  it — a 
chief  place  in  the  region,  in  fact ;  its  position  easily 
making  it  so,  for  it  stood  on  a  mound,  in  a  landscape 
richly  watered  and  very  fertile.1  Now,  however,  the 
wretched  village  squats  on  only  a  portion  of  the  mound, 
and  has  but  a  small  population  of  peasants,  who  lounge 
about  in  squalid  rags  among  their  dunghills.  In  Jero¬ 
boam’s  day,  Dan  became  the  Canterbury  of  the  north; 
its  golden  calves,  housed  no  doubt  in  a  fine  temple, 
were  a  “snare  to  Israel,”  till  Sargon,  after  Slialmanezer’s 
death,  carried  off  the  Ten  Tribes  to  Assjufia — their  images 
with  them.2  Indeed,  it  is  a  question  whether  the  idols 
had  not  been  carried  off  earlier,  for  Dan  was  taken  by 
Benhadad  I.,3  and  is  not  mentioned  after  the  time  of 
Jeroboam  II. 

About  seven  miles  north-west  of  this  anciently  popu¬ 
lous  but  now  long-silent  spot,  stands  Khian,  once  a 
village  in  Naplitali,  which  was  seized  by  Benhadad,  and 
whose  inhabitants  were  led  off  to  Assyria  by  Tiglath 
Pileser,  or  Pul.4  A  few  miles  south-west  of  Khian,  perched 
on  a  cliff  of  the  river  Litany,  2,343  feet  above  the  sea, 
and  close  to  the  hamlet  of  Arnun,  which  is  embowered 
among  trees,  is  the  great  Crusaders’  castle  of  Belfort. 
The  rock  sinks  precipitously  on  three  sides,  allowing 
approach  only  on  the  fourth.  Strong  in  its  position,  this 
imposing  fortress  was  rendered  still  more  so  by  a  ditch 
round  it  hewn  in  the  living  rock,  although  on  the  east 

1  “  In  the  trench,”  2  Sam.  xx.  15,  is,  I  fear,  a  wrong  translation.  The  Greek 
has  “  in  terror.”  “  Close  by  the  wall  ”  seems  a  better  rendering  of  the  Hebrew. 

2  2  Kings  xvii.  9. 

3  1  Kings  xv.  20  ;  2  Chron.  xvi.  4. 

4  2  Chron.  xvi.  4 ;  1  Kings  xv.  20. 


XL  VII.] 


MEROM,  DAN,  BELFORT. 


391 


it  needed  no  artificial  protection  whatever.  Silent  now, 
how  often  did  those  mossy  walls  echo  with  the  soldiers’ 
songs  of  distant  Europe  during  the  hundred  years  through 
which  the  Crusaders  held  them !  This  castle  was  the 
bulwark  of  their  kingdom  in  the  north.  There  had  been 
another  on  the  same  site  ages  before  their  strong  defences 
rose,  for  lines  of  chiselled  stones,  speaking  of  ancient 
masonry,  are  seen  on  the  walls.  A  caravan-track  from 
Damascus  to  Sidon  passes  close  to  the  fortress  on  the 
east  bank  of  the  river;  used,  doubtless,  for  thousands 
of  years  as  a  settled  route  of  trade.  Hence  it  is  very 
probable  that  the  Sidonians  themselves  had  a  castle  on 
the  site  of  Belfort,  to  protect  the  road  by  which  their 
wealth  came  to  them.  To-day,  however,  all  is  deserted, 
unless,  indeed,  when  some  goatherd  and  his  charge  at 
times  seek  rest  in  halls  once  sacred  to  the  Knights  of  the 
Temple. 

The  view  from  the  gigantic  ruins  is  very  striking. 
A  sheer  precipice  of  1,500  feet  in  depth  overlooks  the 
Litany,  which  drives  its  foaming  waters  through  a  narrow 
passage  in  the  hills.  Eagles  have  their  nests  on  the 
ledges  overhanging  the  terrible  abyss,  numbers  of  them 
flying  round  whenever  they  are  disturbed  by  the  sight  of 
a  human  being  in  their  lofty  haunts.  As  they  wheel 
round,  to  the  real  danger  of  anyone  standing  on  the  edge 
of  such  awful  depths,  the  picture  of  Deuteronomy  rises 
naturally  to  the  mind  :  “  As  an  eagle  stirreth  up  her  nest, 
fluttereth  over  her  young,  spreadeth  abroad  her  wings, 
taketh  them,  beareth  them  on  her  wings,  so  the  Lord 
alone  did  lead  you.”1  Nor  can  one  forget  the  striking 
words  of  Isaiah,  “  They  that  wait  upon  the  Lord  shall 
renew  their  strength  ;  they  shall  mount  up  with  wings  as 
eagles.” 2  The  opposite  bank  of  the  river  is  not  so  steep, 
1  Deut.  xxxii.  11.  2  Isa.  xl.  31. 


392 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE.  [Chap.  XLVII. 


but  rises  in  a  fairly  well-cultivated  slope,  witli  a  few  small 
villages  scattered  over  the  landscape.  Further  to  the  east 
rises  the  ever-magnificent  Hermon  :  its  snow  crown  glit¬ 
tering  in  the  bright  spring  sun.  In  the  north  the  huge 
masses  of  Lebanon  seem  to  bear  up  the  sky,  while  to  the 
west  stretches  out  a  gently  undulating  table -land. 


CHAPTEE  XL VIII. 


CAESAREA  PHILIPPI. 

The  way  to  Banias,  the  ancient  Caesarea  Philippi,  situ¬ 
ated  about  two  miles  east  from  Dan,  lies  over  well- 
watered  land,  which  only  needs  a  settled  government  to 
become  a  paradise.  The  hills  were  thick  with  scrub-oak, 
the  old  trees  having  been  cut  down.  Many  brooks  ran 
over  the  slopes ;  and  as  we  neared  Banias,  groves  of 
olive  and  other  trees  lined  the  roadside  and  covered  the 
neighbouring  heights  and  hollows.  The  way  was  a  con¬ 
tinual  ascent  of  successive  heights  with  valleys  between, 
for  Banias  lies  nearly  1,100  feet  above  the  sea,  500  feet 
higher  than  Dan.  The  remains  of  the  ancient  city  extend 
fully  half  a  mile  beyond  the  present  village ;  but  it  is  to 
be  hoped  that  of  old  the  road  was  better  than  it  is  now, 
for  such  a  chaos  of  stones,  large  and  small,  rolled  or 
thrown  into  a  narrow  path  between  banks,  or  piled  into 
loose  walls,  needs  to  be  seen  to  be  believed.  The  very 
horses  seemed  at  a  loss  where  to  put  down  their  feet. 
Pieces  of  old  pillars  lay  at  the  roadside,  or  in  the 
orchards  near,  with  many  squared  stones,  the  wreck  of 
once  splendid  buildings.  Not  a  few  tine  stones  were 
built  into  the  rough  walls  at  the  sides  of  the  track.  We 
had  to  cross  an  ancient  Eoman  bridge  which  spanned 
the  Banias,  one  of  the  main  sources  of  the  Jordan ; 
but,  like  everything  else,  this  venerable  structure  is  left  to 
sink  into  ruin. 


394 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


Nothing  can  exceed  the  romantic  beauty  of  Banias. 
High  hills,  clothed  with  trees  and  green  crops,  are  mingled 
with  great  peaks  or  masses  of  naked  rock  and  long 
stretches  of  sunny  valleys  glorious  with  verdure,  especially 
that  of  the  Banias.  Our  camp  was  pitched  in  a  great 
olive  plantation  above  the  village,  near  to  the  famous 
sanctuary  of  Pan,  beside  the  cavern  from  which  the  Banias 
rushes  forth.  News  of  our  arrival  seemed  to  spread  at 
once,  children  gathering  round  the  tents  to  watch  the 
ways  of  the  foreigners,  and  groups  of  women  soon  fol¬ 
lowing,  to  see  if  they  could  be  healed  of  their  ailments, 
or  procure  any  help  for  those  of  their  husbands  or  child¬ 
ren.  Some  of  these  mothers  and  daughters  of  Csesarea 
Philippi  were  very  fine-looking,  and  all  were  clean,  and 
very  modestly  dressed.  It  carried  one  back  to  the  days  of 
the  Great  Physician,  for  sufferers  from  dropsy,  ague,  blind¬ 
ness,  tumours,  swellings,  and  other  calamities,  thronged 
to  get  relief,  if  possible,  from  the  Hakim  who  was  for  the 
time  in  their  midst.  My  medical  friend  did  what  he 
could,  and  I  contributed  whatever  my  small  stock  afforded 
in  the  way  of  medicines,  but  we  could  do  very  little.  It 
seems  beyond  question,  however,  that  a  Christian  phy¬ 
sician  who  would  travel  round  the  land  from  time  to  time, 
for  the  benefit  of  the  people,  now  without  any  professional 
aid,  would  have  a  far  better  opportunity  of  speaking  for 
the  Master  than  any  other  missionary.  The  Edinburgh 
Medical  Mission  has  admirable  men  at  different  parts  of 
the  Holy  Land,  and  in  Damascus ;  perhaps  it  might  be 
arranged  that  they  should  undertake  such  circuits.  In¬ 
deed,  they  may,  for  anything  I  know,  already  make  them, 
for  they  are  full  of  zeal  as  well  as  of  intelligence. 

After  a  short  rest  I  strolled  to  the  cavern  fountain. 
What  a  voice  of  many  waters  in  this  lovely  scene  !  What 
a  fulness  and  variety  of  vegetation  !  The  view  as  we  went 


XL  VIII.] 


CiESAREA  PHILIPPI. 


895 


down  tlie  slope  to  the  cave  was  beautiful ;  that  from  the 
bottom  of  the  glen,  if  possible,  still  more  so.  At  the  foot 
of  an  upright  wall  of  rock  a  stream  of  silver-clear  water 
burst  forth  in  the  cave,  from  under  heaps  of  stone  which, 
in  the  course  of  ages,  had  fallen  from  the  cliff  and  from 
the  roof  of  the  cavern  itself,  earthquakes  having  probably 
aided  the  accumulation.  Thick-branching  vegetation  hung 
over  the  banks  of  the  infant  river.  A  two-storey  house 
stood  picturesquely  on  the  east  side,  amidst  oaks  and 
oli  ves,  hiding  Banias  from  view  at  this  point.  Little 
islands  rose  in  the  midst  of  the  stream,  like  great  baskets 
of  flowers,  kept  in  perpetual  glory  by  the  rushing  waters 
that  flowed  round  them.  To  the  south-west  a  chain  of 
hills  shut  out  the  distance,  and  to  the  east  the  prospect 
was  still  more  circumscribed,  but  to  the  north  rose  the 
great  castle  of  Banias,  far  up  in  the  sky,  perched  on  a 
hill  almost  surrounded  by  a  deep  valley.  The  cliff  over 
the  cave  from  which  the  river  issues  is  about  100  feet 
high,  and  still  exhibits  ancient  sculptures,  now  little 
above  the  mounds  of  broken  rock  below,  but  once,  per¬ 
haps,  far  from  the  ground.  They  consist  of  three  niches, 
as  if  for  the  statues  of  divinities,  and  two  of  them  have 
Greek  inscriptions.  Memorials  of  the  temple  built  here 
by  Herod  in  honour  of  his  brother  Philip,  tetrarcli  of 
Trachonitis,  would  naturally  be  associated  with  this  cave, 
since  it  had  been  for  ages  a  sacred  spot  as  the  birth-place 
of  a  river — if,  indeed,  the  heaps  of  stone  around  be  not  in 
part  the  remains  of  the  sanctuary  itself.  To  Herod  was 
due  the  name  Caesarea  Philippi,  by  which  the  place  is 
known  in  the  New  Testament.1 

There  are  few  antiquities  in  Banias,  but  the  whole 
region  is  so  beautiful  that  nature  itself  is  an  all-powerful 
attraction.  The  park-like  scenery  on  the  way  from  Dan, 

1  Matt.  xvi.  13  ;  Mark  viii.  27. 


396 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


oak-scrub  and  trees  of  larger  growth  beautifying  the  hills 
and  valleys,  the  luxuriant  vegetation  round  the  town  as 
one  approaches  it,  the  rushing  waters,  falling  in  cascades 
and  winding  through  thickets  and  overhanging  vines,  and 
the  wealth  of  small  streams  flowing  in  every  direction, 
are  charms  of  which  one  cannot  weary.  The  ancient 
Banias  was  naturally  fortified  on  three  sides  by  the 
river  and  a  deep  valley,  while  on  the  fourth  there  was  a 
strong  wall,  with  three  great  towers,  and  a  broad,  deep 
ditch,  probably  flooded  with  water  when  necessary.  A 
large  square  tower  defended  the  bridge  ;  buildings  with 
fine  granite  columns — some  of  which  are  still  lying  about — 
rose  in  the  town,  and  an  aqueduct  ran  through  it;  nor 
can  we  doubt  that  then,  as  now,  streams  were  led  through 
artificial  heds  to  drive  the  town  mills.  Such  was  the  place 
when  our  Lord  saw  it,  for  it  was  on  one  of  the  green  hills 
around  that  He  was  transfigured,  when  He  had  retired 
from  Galilee  to  Caesarea  Philippi  and  its  neighbourhood  to 
escape  the  wiles  of  “  the  Fox  ”  Antipas.  Here  doubtless, 
as  elsewhere,  He  not  only  taught  the  people,  but  healed 
their  diseases.  Indeed,  at  the  time  of  Eusebius,  there  was 
a  legend  that  the  house  of  the  woman  cured  of  an  issue  of 
blood  1  was  still  to  be  seen  in  the  town,  and  a  statue  was 
shown  which  was  thought  to  commemorate  the  event ;  the 
woman,  it  was  believed,  having  been  an  inhabitant  of 
Caesarea  Philippi.  “  At  the  gate  of  her  house,  on  an 
elevated  stone,  stands  a  hrazen  image  of  a  woman  on 
her  knees,  with  her  hands  stretched  out  before  her,  like 
one  entreating.  Opposite  this  is  another  image,  of  a 
man,  erect,  of  the  same  material,  decently  clad  in  a 
mantle,  and  stretching  out  his  hand  to  the  woman. 
This,  they  say,  is  a  statue  of  Christ,  and  it  has  remained 
even  to  our  times,  so  that  I  myself  saw  it  when  I  was 

1  Luke  viii.  43. 


£L VIII.] 


CiESAREA  PHILIPPI. 


397 


in  the  city.”1  It  seems  very  improbable,  however,  that 
such  a  work  of  art  should  have  been  set  up  by  a  Jewess, 
as  the  woman  apparently  was,  for  images  of  all  kinds,  and 
even  portraits,  were  abhorrent  to  the  Jews,  a  fact  which  at 
once  shows  the  worthlessness  of  all  pretended  likenesses  of 
our  Lord. 

That  the  Transfiguration  took  place  near  Banias,  and 
not  on  Mount  Tabor,  seems  beyond  question.  As  to 
Tabor,  indeed,  its  broad  top  was  enclosed  with  the  walls  of 
a  fortification,  and  built  over,  to  a  large  extent,  in  Christ’s 
day — Josephus,  when  he  says  he  built  a  castle  and  walls 
upon  it,  meaning  only  that  he  restored  them.  But  which 
of  the  hills  around  Caesarea  Philippi  witnessed  the  revela¬ 
tion  of  our  Lord’s  glory  is  quite  unknown.  Nor  can  we 
tell  in  which  of  the  green  glades  the  grand  confession 
was  made  by  which  St.  Peter  boldly  acknowledged  Him  as 
“  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God  :  ”  the  first  public 
declaration  He  openly  accepted  of  His  being  the  true 
Messiah ;  the  inauguration,  in  fact,  of  the  new  spiritual 
society  He  had  come  to  establish. 

Heathen  temples  were  very  common  in  Palestine  in 
Christ’s  day,  and  hence  that  of  Pan  at  Ciesarea  Philippi 
would  be  no  novelty  to  Him.  Already,  in  the  time  of 
Antiochus  the  Great,  the  district  was  spoken  of  as  sacred 
to  Pan,  and  the  likeness  of  the  god,  playing  on  the  flute, 
is  still  to  be  seen  on  local  coins  of  the  Roman  period. 
All  over  this  part  of  the  country,  indeed,  the  remains 
of  temples  abound,  and  yet  Christ  found  that  quiet  and 
safety  in  this  largely  heathen  district  which  were  denied 
Him  among  His  own  people. 

The  castle  which  looks  down  on  all  this  loveliness 
is  reached  by  a  long  and  steep  ride.  Who  first  raised 
a  fortress  on  this  proud  summit  no  one  knows.  Its 

1  Euseb.  Hist  Ecc.,  vi.  18. 


393 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


walls  are  built  of  great  drafted  stones,  put  together 
with  much  skill,  but  the  draft  in  this  case  seems  not 
to  be  a  sure  sign  of  antiquity,  as  the  Palestine  Surveyors, 
whom  one  would  think  the  best  possible  judges,  believe 
the  fortifications  to  be  the  work  of  the  Crusaders.  They 
tower  nearly  1,500  feet  above  the  town,  and  extend  for 
no  ess  than  1,450  feet  from  east  to  west — very  nearly  a 
third  of  a  mile :  their  depth  from  north  to  south  being  on 
an  average  360  feet.  At  the  back  and  front,  deep  valleys 
defend  them  ;  on  the  west,  they  are  protected  by  a  rock- 
cut  ditch ;  and  on  the  east,  by  which  alone  they  are 
ajDproacliable,  access  is  still  difficult,  as  the  rocks  rise 
steeply  from  the  narrow  ridge  to  the  castle  walls. 

The  interior  is  an  uneven  area  of  four  or  five  acres ; 
the  rock  swelling  up  in  some  parts  above  the  walls,  while 
in  others  the  ground  is  ploughed  and  sown.  There  is, 
indeed,  a  small  village  within  the  fortifications,  depending 
for  water  wholly  on  the  vast  cisterns  of  the  ancient  struc¬ 
ture,  which  supplied  water  to  it  in  antiquity.  Some  of 
the  stones  of  the  walls  are  from  six  to  eight  feet  in  length, 
beautifully  dressed,  and  bevelled ;  one  round  tower,  with 
fine  sloping  work  below,  offering  a  surface  not  less  finished 
and  striking  than  that  of  the  so-called  Tower  of  David,  at 
Jerusalem.  Under  your  feet  are  many  subterranean  vaults, 
chambers,  and  passages,  to  which  access  is  obtained  by  a 
stairway  cut  in  the  rock,  hut  no  one  can  now  explore  the 
choked-up  wonders  of  this  lower  world.  Who  can  realise 
the  energy  which  dragged  to  such  a  spot  vast  mountains  of 
building  material ;  or  quarried  out  the  huge  trenches  in 
the  rocks,  and  hollowed  the  very  hill,  over  acres,  into  an 
underground  labyrinth  of  dungeons,  storehouses,  immense 
cisterns,  and  much  else  ?  It  helps  to  remove  false  ideas  of 
the  condition  of  the  country  in  remote  ages  to  see  such 
triumphs  of  science,  industry,  and  wealth  in  a  sequestered 


XLVIIL] 


CiESAKEA  PHILIPPI. 


399 


spot  like  Banias.  Assuming  that  the  Crusaders  only 
adapted  or  enlarged  already  existing  works,  there  is  nothing 
at  all  equal  to  this  castle  in  Western  lands,  except  of  a 
date  which  is  comparatively  modern. 

The  position  of  this  wonderful  fortress  shows  that  it 
could  not  have  been  intended  for  the  defence  of  Banias,  for 
it  is  more  than  two  miles  away.  Not  improbably  it 
was  built  even  before  the  town,  though  that  boasts  of  a 
high  antiquity.  Like  the  castle  of  Kulat  esli  Shukif — 
the  Belfort  of  the  Crusaders — which  towers  in  full  view  in 
the  distance,  it  was  raised  to  command  the  great  caravan- 
route  from  Lake  Merom  to  the  Plain  of  Damascus;  perhaps 
by  the  Sidonians,  in  the  remote  days  when  they  had  settle¬ 
ments  in  these  parts. 

After  the  death  of  Christ,  Caesarea  Philippi,  re-named 
Neronias  by  Herod  Agrippa  II.,  saw  strange  sights. 
When  Jerusalem  had  fallen,  Titus  celebrated  his  triumph 
here  by  public  games,  in  which  Jewish  prisoners  were 
compelled  to  fight  with  wild  beasts  and  with  each  other. 
During  the  Crusades,  it  was  repeatedly  taken  and  retaken, 
but  finally  came  into  the  hands  of  the  Saracens  in  1105. 
A  gateway  alone  now  remains  in  any  tolerable  pre¬ 
servation,  to  attest  the  strength  of  the  defences  of  the 
town.  Its  walls,  over  six  feet  thick,  rise  beside  the 
bridge  which  spans  the  channel  of  the  Jordan  in  one  arch 
of  huge  stones.  Below,  the  waters  rush  on  over  a  wide 
confusion  of  rocks,  mostly  basalt :  picturesque  but  wild. 
Into  the  streets,  which  are  mere  lanes,  the  stones  of  gene¬ 
rations  of  houses,  and  from  a  wide  extent  of  fields,  have 
been  allowed  to  fall,  or  have  been  thrown. 


CHAPTER  XL IX. 


THE  LEBANON  MOUNTAINS. 

Prom  Banias  we  set  out  for  Damascus,  the  road  leading  up 
long  slopes,  in  many  places  very  stony,  witli  basalt  cliffs 
breaking  out  at  one  place,  ploughed  land  at  another,  and 
smooth  rock  at  a  third.  Brooks  of  delightful  sound  ran 
down  the  hill-sides.  Clumps  of  mjutles  were  not  in¬ 
frequent,  and  at  some  places  terraces  had  been  built  along 
the  sides  to  retain  the  soil.  A  few  olives  were  to  be  seen 
now  and  then,  and  the  great  hill  on  which  the  castle 
stands  was  covered  with  them  to  the  very  top.  Industry 
is  a  characteristic  of  the  peasant  in  the  Holy  Land,  and 
the  Druses  are  no  exception  to  the  rule,  so  that  I  was 
not  astonished  to  find,  as  the  path  still  mounted  from 
height  to  height,  patches  of  green  wheat,  beans,  or  lentils, 
wherever  the  rock  permitted.  Jebel  esh  Sheikh,  or  Her 
mon,  did  not  look  so  high  as  we  were  ascending  it ;  and 
the  snow,  which  at  a  distance  had  appeared  an  unbroken 
mantle,  was  now  seen  only  to  fill  the  hollows  of  the 
summit,  with  bare  ribs  of  the  mountain  between.  It 
was  another  instance  of  distance  lending  enchantment  to 
the  view.  The  vast  mountain  mass,  which  had  risen  so 
grandly  to  the  heavens  ever  since  we  left  Samaria,  was 
in  fact,  when  seen  even  at  this  distance,  only  a  long  awful 
slope  of  rock,  up  to  the  highest  point.  There  was  no 
peak,  but  simply  a  great  ridge,  bare  and  terrible,  rising 
a  little  higher  at  one  part  than  at  another,  with  Druse 


Chap.  XLIX.] 


THE  LEBANON  MOUNTAINS. 


401 


villages  far  up  the  valleys.  Our  path  lay  down  steep  slopes, 
along  valleys,  up  rough  ascents. 

The  Druses,  who  number  about  80,000  souls,  are  largely 
descended  from  the  old  inhabitants  of  Itursea,  though  they 
have  adopted  the  Arabic  tongue,  through  the  influence  of 
the  Mahommedan  conquest.  In  their  social  constitu¬ 
tion  they  form  a  kind  of  republic,  with  a  chosen  leader,  at 
times,  as  the  first  among  equals.  Their  religion  is  kept 
profoundly  secret  among  themselves,  but  appears  to  be  a 
mixture  of  Mahommedan  and  Christian  ideas,  with  some 
remains  of  the  old  nature-worship  of  ancient  Syria.  The 
whole  population  is  divided  into  two  classes — the  Initiated 
and  the  Ignorant  :  the  two  sections  forming  distinct  castes, 
of  which  the  former  is  the  dominant.  There  are  no  priests, 
but  there  are  houses  devoted  to  prayer  and  meditation  ; 
the  repositories  of  their  sacred  writings  and  standards. 
Among  themselves  they  are  known  as  “  Confessors  of  the 
Unity  of  God/’  laying  great  stress  on  their  lofty  and  pure 
conception  of  the  Almighty.  Incarnations  have,  in  their 
belief,  often  taken  place  :  the  last  of  them  having  vanished 
from  the  earth  in  the  person  of  the  Ivhalif  Hakim,  in 
a.d.  1021.  He  has  left  the  earth  to  put  their  faith  to 
the  proof,  but  he  will  return  again,  with  power  and  great 
glory,  and  give  his  servants  the  empire  of  the  world. 
With  each  incarnation  of  God  there  has  always  been  that 
of  the  first  of  the  Divine  creations — Supreme  Wisdom, 
which  last  manifested  itself  as  Hamza,  the  son  of  Ali,  the 
Apostle  of  the  Unity  of  God.  Only  a  certain  number  of 
human  beings  are  created ;  souls  passing,  at  death,  into 
a  new  body,  so  that  they  are  always  wandering,  though 
steadily  rising  to  perfection  if  devoted  to  the  truth,  or 
growing  worse  if  given  to  sin.  In  late  years,  the  worst 
characteristics  of  the  Druses  have  been  most  promi¬ 
nently  before  the  world,  from  their  terrific  massacres  of 


a  a 


402 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


the  Lebanon  Christians,  in  1860,  for  seeking  to  cast  off 
the  Druse  joke,  to  which  they  had  till  then  submitted  ; 
since  then,  these  strange  people  have  been  peaceful.1 

The  wild  path  kept  on,  up  and  down,  across  the  beds 
of  torrents,  now  of  course  dry  ;  the  top  of  Hermon  reach¬ 
ing  along,  mile  after  mile  ;  with  snow,  now,  only  on  the 
slightly  higher  end.  At  ten  in  the  forenoon  the  air  was 
deliciously  soft  and  mild.  Good  wide  fields  of  strong 
wheat  were  frequent  on  our  right,  up  the  gentle  slope  of 
a  wide  valley  ;  on  the  left,  the  great  summit-ridge  stretched 
skyward,  in  awful  desolation.  Still  up,  up,  up,  under  the 
frowning  black  slope.  The  track  was  over  grey  limestone, 
hut  so  rough  that  I  wondered  how  the  horse  could  pick 
its  steps,  or  I  write  my  notes.  After  a  time  great  herds 
of  black  and  red  cattle  appeared,  quietly  browsing  along 
the  south  side  of  the  mighty  roof  of  the  mountains,  a 
very  short  distance  below  the  snow ;  the  ridge  stretching 
on  and  on  like  that  of  a  stupendous  house,  and  slowly 
rising  to  the  north.  On  that  side  of  us  the  steep  rose 
in  desolate  sublimity,  though  here  and  there  a  faint  em¬ 
broidery  of  green  gleamed  out  amidst  the  rocks,  while 
the  southern  ascent  was  more  or  less  green  nearly  to  the 
top.  By-and-by  a  great  ridge  of  sandstone  rose  on  the 
one  side,  and  just  under  the  snow  on  the  top  of  the  chain 
was  a  rounded  hill,  beautiful  with  green  corn.  Then 
came  a  Druse  village,  of  flat-roofed  stone  houses  of  one 
storey,  rising  pleasantly  up  the  slope ;  the  top  of  the 
mountain  towering  aloft  1,500  feet  higher. 

At  eleven  in  the  forenoon  we  had  been  three  hours 
climbing,  but  the  air  was  still  delightful,  and  great  flocks 
of  sheep  and  goats  fed  on  better  pasture  than  is  common 

1  Some  think  the  Druses  partly  Persian,  and  that  their  customs  connect 
them  with  Media  and  Turkestan.  It  may  be  that  they  are  not  more  republican 
than  other  Orientals,  although  high  authorities  speak  of  them  as  being  so. 


XLIX.] 


THE  LEBANON  MOUNTAINS. 


403 


thousands  of  feet  below.  Two  Druses  tended  a  flock, 
one  of  them  carrying  a  gun,  to  protect  his  charge  from 
the  wild  beasts  of  the  mountains.  The  snowy  top  was 
soon  just  above  us,  to  the  north,  perhaps  800  feet  higher 
than  our  rough  track.  The  air  grew  perceptibly  cooler 
as  we  got  nearer  the  snow  of  the  hills,  but  it  did  not 
prevent  life  of  all  kinds  from  enjoying  itself,  for  there 
was  a  whole  chorus  of  crested  larks  as  we  rode  on.  We 
had  now  reached  the  highest  point  of  the  pass,  and  from 
this  point  the  mountains  changed  their  character.  The 
onward  track  lay  across  the  wide  crater  of  an  ancient  vol¬ 
cano,  filled  up  with  lava,  and  strewn  thickly  with  it  in 
masses,  in  the  form  of  basalt,  but  even  here,  cleared  and 
fenced  patches,  bright  with  grain,  were  not  infrequent,  A 
man  and  a  camel  which  he  rode  were  the  only  creatures 
that  passed  us  as,  after  crossing  the  wide  stretch  of  lava, 
we  rode  over  a  nice  little  sandy  plain,  with  good  grazing. 
Two  oak-tree-i  relieved  the  monotony  around,  and  then 
came  a  large  flock  of  sheep  and  goats,  with  a  herd  of  six¬ 
teen  horses,  quietly  grazing.  Basalt  showed  itself  in  many 
places,  but  the  limestone  heights  through  which  it  had  once 
burst  up  in  molten  fire  rose  like  a  fence  round  it  on  all 
sides,  more  or  less  far  off ;  the  strata  so  undisturbed  that 
I  almost  fancied  they  had  been  deposited  after  the  basalt 
eruption,  instead  of  before  it.  All  over  the  little  plain, 
cc  gowans,”  so  dear  to  our  North-country  brethren,  whitened 
the  ground,  though  snow  lay  on  many  spots  around  us. 

We  were  now  under  the  very  top  of  Hermon — “the 
Lofty  Height  ” — famous  in  Scripture;  known  as  Jebel  esli 
Sheikh — “the  Mountain  of  the  White-haired  Old  Man” — 
among  the  populations  of  to-day.  From  the  earliest  times, 
the  summit  rising  a  little  above  us  had  been  familiar,  as 
the  everywhere  visible  northern  boundary  of  Palestine;1 

1  Deufc.  iii.  8 ;  iv.  48;  Josli.  xi.  17  ;  xii.  1 ;  1  Chron.  vi.  23. 

a  a  2 


404 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


originally  assigned  to  tlie  kingdom  of  0 g,  and  then  to  the 
territory  of  Manasseli.1  The  Sidonians  knew  it  as  Sirion, 
the  Amorites  as  Senir2— both  meaning  “  the  Banner  ;  ”  a 
fitting  name  for  the  great  white  standard  it  raises  aloft 
over  the  whole  land.  The  mass  of  its  gigantic  hulk  is  of 
the  age  of  the  Middle  Chalk,  as  shown  both  by  the  pre¬ 
vailing  rock  and  by  its  fossil  fish  and  shells,  some  of  which 
1  myself  got,  thousands  of  feet  above  the  sea-level.  But 
it  has  been  rent  asunder  by  terrible  volcanic  eruptions, 
as  we  were  soon  to  see  even  more  fully  than  on  the 
ascent.  On  the  southern  point  of  the  summit  there  are 
ruins,  apparently  of  an  ancient  temple,  but  the  whole 
mountain  was  once  girdled  with  sanctuaries,  for  Hermon 
was  a  great  centre  of  the  worship  of  Baal.  Snow  covers 
the  top  for  the  greater  part  of  the  year,  and  in  ancient 
times  supplied  ice  during  summer  for  cooling  the  drinks 
of  the  people  of  Tyre.  Indeed,  the  Hebrews  also  perhaps 
availed  themselves  of  this  luxury,  if  we  may  judge  from 
the  proverb  :  “  As  the  cold  of  snow  in  the  time  of  harvest, 
so  is  a  faithful  messenger  to  them  that  send  him ;  for  he 
refreshetli  the  soul  of  his  masters. ”3  They  could  not  get 
snow  in  the  hot  months,  except  from  Hermon. 

We  rested  for  refreshment  upon  this  highest  plateau, 
with  a  limestone  block  for  a  support  to  our  backs,  and 
snow  within  six  feet.  Some  Druse  shepherds  presently 
made  their  appearance  and  lay  down  beside  us.  One  had 
a  double-barrelled  gun  for  the  wolves  ;  another  an  ugly 
brass-sheathed  kniie  in  his  girdle.  Some  children  were 
with  them;  one,  a  little  girl  in  a  “  tarboosh,”  with  her  hair 
divided  into  six  plaits  down  her  back  ;  plaited  additions  in 
red  hanging  still  lower  from  each.  A  blue  cotton  wrapper 
and  a  coloured  sash  completed  her  costume. 

1  .Tosh.  xii.  5 ;  xiii.  11.  2  Deut,.  iii.  9;  Ps.  xxix.  6 ;  Ezek.  xxvii.  5. 

3  Proy.  xxv.  13. 


XLIX.] 


THE  LEBANON  MOUNTAINS. 


405 


The  descent  towards  Damascus  was  long  and  weari¬ 
some.  No  desolation,  indeed,  could  be  more  extreme  than 
that  of  the  first  few  miles.  Fire-deluges  had  swept  down 
the  mountain,  wave  on  wave,  leaving  universal  black  ruin. 
Fences  which  enclosed  nothing  were  piled  up  of  fragments 
of  basalt ;  their  breadth  as  great  as  their  height.  With 
wonderful  industry,  the  loose  volcanic  cinders  and  broken 
lava  had,  in  places,  been  gathered  off  the  surface  to  allow 
spots  to  be  tilled,  but  they  were  as  nothing  in  the  far- 
stretching  waste.  Where  we  were  descending,  the  con¬ 
gealed  lava-currents  wrinkled  the  whole  face  of  the 
mountain  into  the  roughest  of  steps.  These,  moreover, 
were  made  still  rougher  by  being  strewn  over  with  tens 
of  thousands  of  tons  of  lava-boulders,  shot  out,  I  suppose, 
in  a  frightful  skyward  cannonade  from  the  central  fires. 
The  black  wavy  sea  of  lava  under- foot  is  bedded  with 
them,  over  an  immense  space.  The  track  lay  through  this 
hideous  ruin  of  nature,  lifeless  and  terrible  as  when  the 
sides  of  the  mountain  were  cased  in  glowing  fire.  It  is 
the  regular  road  to  and  from  Damascus,  as  we  soon  found 
by  meeting  a  train  of  twenty  mules,  laden  with  boxes  of 
tobacco  and  bales  of  cloth,  on  their  way  from  that  city  to 
Jerusalem. 

The  view  as  we  descended  was  magnificent ;  range 
beyond  range  of  hills  stretching  away  to  the  south — 
the  hills  of  Itunea  and  Gilead.  At  last  the  mountains 
were  behind  us,  or  on  the  north,  and  open  land,  with 
rushing  streams,  once  more  cheered  the  way  to  Kefr 
Ho  war,  our  quarters  for  the  night.  Even  before  we 
reached  our  halting-place,  however,  rain  began  to  fall, 
and  continued  at  intervals ;  but  the  tent  was,  of  course,  a 
great  protection,  though  by  no  means  watertight.  I  have 
a  vivid  remembrance  of  that  night,  for  it  was  largely  spent 
in  trying  to  balance  the  coverlet  on  a  bed  two  inches 


406 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


broader  than  my  shoulders  ;  to  keep  my  feet  from  ex¬ 
posure  at  the  one  end  of  the  structure,  and  to  forget  a 
sweet  hollow  in  the  middle,  which  left  one’s  back  for 
quite  a  space  suspended  over  nothing.  Then  there  was  the 
amusement  of  trying  to  set  the  howls  of  jackals  and  the 
barking  of  numerous  dogs  to  music,  and  of  watching  the 
flapping  of  the  canvas  as  the  rainy  wind  made  sport  with 
it.  Sleep,  however,  came  at  last,  but  I  was  soon  roused 
by  a  pious  jackass  braying  its  morning  hymn  close  to 
my  ear. 

The  pass  by  which  I  had  crossed  the  mountains  must 
have  been  in  use  from  the  earliest  times,  and  was  most 
probably  that  by  which  Chedorlaomer  and  his  allies  fled, 
when  pursued  from  Dan  to  Damascus  by  Abraham.  Over 
such  a  road  the  rout  must  have  been  terrible,  for  any 
attempt  at  order  would  be  impossible,  and  it  was  equally 
hopeless  to  carry  off  any  plunder.  Did  St.  Paul,  also, 
cross  by  it  on  his  memorable  journey  to  the  Syrian 
capital?  It  is  more  than  probable  that  he  did. 

Only  the  Mahommedans,  I  may  here  remark,  seem  to 
engage  openly  in  prayer  in  Palestine,  though  some  even 
of  them  are  not  too  devout.  I  never  saw  any  of  the 
men  who  were  with  us  praying,  nor  any  of  the  country 
people,  though  it  is  very  common  to  see  men  at  their 
devotions  in  towns,  where  Mahommedanism  is  more  scru¬ 
pulously  honoured.  The  rigid  formalities  observed  on  such 
occasions  are  curious.  The  hands  are  first  raised,  open, 
till  the  thumbs  touch  the  ears,  the  words,  “  Grod  is  great,” 
accompanying  the  elevation.  A  few  petitions  having  been 
recited  mentally,  the  hands  are  lowered  and  folded  over 
the  body,  while '  the  first  chapter  of  the  Koran,  and  a 
few  other  brief  passages  from  the  same  source,  are  being 
recited  by  the  supplicant.  He  next  bends  forward,  with 
his  hands  on  his  knees,  and  again  repeats,  three  times, 


XLIX.] 


THE  LEBANON  MOUNTAINS. 


407 


“  God  is  great.”  Then,  once  more,  he  stands  erect  and 
repeats  the  same  words.  Presently  he  falls  on  his  knees, 
bending  forward  till  his  face  touches  the  ground,  with 
his  hands  on  each  side  of  the  head,  repeating  this  prostra¬ 
tion  thrice ;  all  the  time  reciting  the  appointed  short 
prayers.  Once  more  he  kneels,  and  after  settling  hack 
on  his  heels,  continues  a  prescribed  series  of  brief  supplica¬ 
tions.  This  ends  the  required  devotions,  but  the  whole 
is  often  gone  over  more  than  once,  where  there  is  special 
fervour.1 

It  is  curious,  however,  to  find  that  this  striking  reli¬ 
gionism  is  in  very  many  cases  entirely  independent  of 
any  really  devout  feeling,  for  even  Moslems  have  their 
proverbs  about  those  who  are  extra  zealous  in  public 
prayers,  and  it  is  certain  that  men  who  have  no  idea  of 
common  morality  in  their  daily  life  are  as  exact  as 
Pharisees  in  their  compliance  with  the  ceremonial  require¬ 
ments  of  their  faith.  To  pray  standing  in  the  synagogues, 
or  at  the  corners  of  the  streets,  may  not  always  be  a  mark 
of  insincerity,  and,  indeed,  must  not  be  regarded  thus 
harshly ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  it  by  no  means  implies 
the  sanctity  one  might  expect.'  The  great  stress  laid  by 
Mahommedanism  on  the  exact  observance  of  the  prescribed 
ritual  in  religious  acts  is  hardly  realised  in  the  Western 
world.  Nothing  can  make  up  for  a  ceremonial  error; 
ardent  faith  or  the  purest  intentions  are  entirely  neutral¬ 
ised,  if  any  detail  be  amiss  in  the  required  formalities. 
There  is  a  right  way  and  a  wrong  in  any  religious  ob¬ 
servance,  and  there  is  no  choice  in  the  matter,  nor  is  any 
detail  indifferent,  however  small.  The  rules  respecting 
efficacious  prayer  are  an  example  of  this.  Mahomet’s 
directions,  which  must  be  implicitly  followed,  enjoin  that 
“  when  anyone  says  his  prayers,  he  must  have  something 

1  See  Yol.  I,  p.  203  ff. 


408 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


in  front  of  him,  and  if  he  cannot  find  anything  for  that 
purpose,  he  must  put  his  walking-stick  into  the  ground. 
If,  however,  the  ground  be  hard,  he  must  place  it  length¬ 
ways  before  him.  If  he  have  no  staff,  he  must  draw  a 
line  on  the  ground,  and  after  doing  this  there  will  be  no 
injury  to  his  prayers  from  anyone  passing  before  him.” 
To  pass  in  front  of  a  man  when  he  is  praying  is  a 
terrible  offence,  since  it  goes  far  to  spoil  the  good  of  his 
prayers  :  a  result  so  dreadful  that  the  Prophet  empowered 
a  believer  who  might  be  annoyed  in  this  way  to  “  draw 
his  sword  ”  upon  the  criminal  and  “  cut  him  down,”  and 
further  declared  that  “  if  anyone  did  hut  know  the  sin  of 
passing  before  a  person  engaged  in  prayer,  he  would  find 
it  better  for  him  to  sink  into  the  earth.” 

INTo  less  important  is  the  manner  of  carrying  out  the 
ablutions  required  before  prayer.  When  the  Prophet  per¬ 
formed  these  offices,  “  he  took  a  handful  of  water,  and 
raised  it  to  the  under  part  of  his  chin,  and  combed  his 
heard  with  his  hand,  and  said,  ‘  In  this  way  has  my  Lord 
ordered  me/  ”  On  one  occasion,  moreover,  when  some  of 
his  followers,  who  were  performing  their  ablutions  in  a 
hurry,  had  omitted  to  wet  the  soles  of  their  feet,  the 
Prophet  said,  “Alas  for  the  soles  of  their  feet,  for  they 
will  he  in  hell  fire  !  ”  Sin,  in  fact,  according  to  Mahomet, 
is  a  material  pollution,  capable  of  being  washed  away,  like 
so  much  physical  uncleanness.  Hence  he  ordered  his 
followers  in  making  their  ablutions  to  be  careful  not  to 
leave  even  a  finger-nail  unwetted,  for,  said  he,  “  He  who 
makes  ablution  thoroughly  will  cleanse  away  the  faults 
from  his  body,  even  to  those  that  may  hide  under  his 
finger-nails,”  and  will,  as  the  result,  be  known  on  the  day 
of  Resurrection  by  “  his  bright  hands  and  feet,”  the  effect 
of  his  diligent  and  frequent  purifications.  The  positions 
in  prayer,  which  I  have  described,  are  no  less  important. 


XLIX.] 


THE  LEBANON  MOUNTAINS. 


409 


“  To  rest  on  the  arms  while  at  prayer  is  pleasing  to  the 
people  of  hell,”  and  so  also  are  “  hurried  prostration, 
like  a  cock  pecking  grain,”  and  “  spreading  the  arms  like 
dogs  and  tigers.”  The  attitudes  of  Mahomet,  handed 
down  by  tradition,  are  therefore  the  safest  rule,  and  are 
rigorously  observed.  “  The  Prophet,”  says  the  authorita¬ 
tive  account  of  his  devotions — handed  down,  it  is  told  us, 
from  Ayesha,  one  of  his  favourite  wives — “used  to  begin 
his  prayers  by  repeating  the  Tacbir  and  reading  the  Ivoran, 
with  these  words,  ‘  Praise  he  to  Grod,  the  Lord  of  the 
wrnrlds  !  ’  And  when  he  made  the  bending  of  the  body  he 
did  not  raise  the  head,  nor  yet  bend  it  very  low,  hut  kept 
it  in  a  middle  position,  with  his  neck  and  back  in  a  line. 
And  when  he  had  raised  his  head,  after  bending,  he  did 
not  prostrate  himself  till  he  had  stood  quite  erect,  and  after 
each  prostration  he  sat  for  an  interval,  before  standing  up. 
He  used  also  to  lay  his  left  leg  down,  and  his  right  leg  he 
kept  up,  and  he  forbade  resting  both  arms  on  the  ground, 
and  finished  his  prayers  with  the  salaam .”  How  different 
this  mechanical  devotion  from  that  of  the  New  Testament, 
which  says  not  a  word  about  posture  or  gesture,  but  con¬ 
fines  itself  to  the  requirement  that,  to  be  accepted,  all 
prayer  must  be  offered  “  in  spirit  and  in  truth.”1 

The  power  of  Mahommedanism  as  a  creed  is  very 
great — partly,  no  doubt,  from  the  penalties  of  abandoning 
it ;  but  still  more,  I  fear,  from  the  proud  self-righteousness 
of  its  votaries.  Conversions  to  Christianity  are  very  rare, 
the  excellent  American  missionaries  in  Cairo  telling  me 
that  the  only  influence  they  could  exert  was  to  temper 
Mahommedanism  in  some  homes  with  the  purer  spirit  of 
the  New  Testament,  taught  in  the  schools  to  the  children 
or  women.  The  vast  pilgrimages  each  year  to  Mecca  and 
Medina,  from  all  parts  of  the  Moslem  world,  show  the 

1  John  iv.  23. 


410 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


vigour  of  this  faith,  since  they  imply  a  universal  zeal 
among  the  Mahommedan  nations;  the  actual  pilgrims 
being  only  those  who  are  able  to  accomplish  what  is  the 
highest  ambition  of  all.  Over  a  million  pounds  sterling, 
it  is  estimated,  is  spent  on  this  annual  journey  to  the 
great  shrines,  though  the  bulk  of  the  pilgrims  are  of 
the  poorer  classes — which  means  more  in  the  East  than 
anywhere  else.  In  1885,  53,000  persons  entered  Mecca 
to  pay  their  devotions  at  the  Kaaba,  or  sacred  stone,  half 
of  them  Turks  and  Egyptians,  the  rest  made  up  of  over 
16,000  Malays  and  natives  of  India,  over  7,000  Moors, 
about  6,000  Arabs  from  all  parts  of  Africa  and  Arabia, 
and  1,600  Persians.  Imagine  the  influence  of  this  number, 
returning,  each  year,  ablaze  with  pride  and  fanaticism,  to 
their  homes.  How  fierce  and  intolerant  must  they  make 
their  less  privileged  fellow-believers  around  !  It  cannot 
fail,  in  fact,  to  have  the  same  effect  as  that  which  we  know 
the  annual  pilgrimage  to  the  Passover  at  Jerusalem  had 
on  ancient  Judaism,  kindling  it,  both  in  Palestine  and 
elsewhere,  to  a  bigotry  which  looked  down  with  contempt 
on  all  other  creeds.  We  can  understand,  moreover,  from 
the  financial  interests  involved  in  the  Mahommedan  pil¬ 
grimage — its  members  spending,  as  I  have  said,  a  million 
pounds  on  their  route  and  in  Mecca — how  keenly  the 
local  bigotry,  like  that  of  Jerusalem,  must  be  seconded  by 
lower  passions,  in  resisting  all  religious  change.  How,  as 
of  old,  orthodoxy  finds  an  all-powerful  ally  in  the  pocket. 

The  dress  of  the  people  in  Lebanon  and  towards 
Damascus  is  different  from  that  of  Palestine,  jackets  and 
baggy  trousers  taking  the  place  of  “abbas  ”  and  blue  cotton 
gaberdines.  Among  the  peasants  and  Bedouins  the  shirt 
is,  in  many  cases,  the  one  article  of  dress.  Drawers  of 
cotton  are  also  worn  by  some  of  the  better  class,  occasion¬ 
ally  very  full,  in  other  cases  like  our  own.  The  baggy 


XLIX.] 


THE  LEBANON  MOUNTAIN'S. 


411 


breeches  are  a  phenomenon  to  Western  eyes,  especially  in 
their  simplicity,  for  they  are  only  a  linge  circle  of  cotton 
or  cloth,  tied  round  the  waist  by  a  sash  or  cord.  Where 
outer  jackets  are  worn,  as  in  Lebanon,  there  is  frequently 
an  inner  waistcoat,  glorious  with  many  small  buttons,  and 
coming  close  up  to  the  neck  ;  but  sometimes  there  is  an 
inner  jacket  under  the  “  abba,”  with  pockets,  as  in  Europe. 
In  the  towns  not  a  few  persons  in  good  position  wear  a 
long  open  gown  of  cotton  or  silk,  folding  over  in  front, 
and  secured  round  the  body  by  a  girdle,  which  latter  may 
be  of  leather,  cotton,  silk,  camels’-hair,  or  simply  a  shawl, 
according  to  the  means  and  taste  of  the  wearer.  Even  in 
the  East,  however,  there  are  fashions.  Some  affect  a  gaudy 
jacket  over  the  long  silken  or  cotton  gown,  and  this  may 
be  either  a  simple  affair,  or  a  triumph  of  tailoring,  with 
sleeves  finely  slashed,  or  fastened  to  the  shoulders  by 
buttons,  rich  embroidery  playing  a  grand  part  in  specially 
splendid  garments.  Of  the  “  abba  ”  I  have  often  spoken, 
but  besides  this  a  long  loose  cloak  of  white  wool,  with  a 
hood  for  the  head,  is  worn  by  a  few. 

How  far  these  varieties  of  dress  resemble  any  in  the 
Bible  is  not  easy  to  say.  In  the  time  of  the  patriarchs, 
homespun  cloth  of  wool,  or  goats’-hair,1  was  in  use,  and 
flax  and  linen  became  known  to  the  Hebrews  in  Egypt,2 
though  it  is  hardly  to  be  doubted  that  intercourse  with 
the  Nile  had  much  earlier  caused  their  use  in  the  en~ 
canqiments  of  Abraham  and  his  descendants.  In  later 
times  the  Jews  gloried  in  white,  parti-coloured  purple, 
red,  or  scarlet  clothes,  of  wool,  linen,  and  cotton,3  in 
some  cases  enriched  by  an  interweaving  of  gold  threads.4 

1  Gen.  xxxi.  19  ;  xxxviii.  12. 

2  Exod.  ix.  31  ;  xxviii.  42. 

3  Judg.  v.  30;  2  Sam.  i.  24  ;  Jer.  iv.  30;  Ezek.  xxiii.  6;  Hah.  ii.  3; 
Luke  xvi.  19. 

4  Ps.  xl.  10—14  ;  1  Mace.  vi.  2. 


412 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


David’s  ephod,  in  which  he  danced  before  the  ark,  appears 
to  have  been  a  long,  sliirt-like  garment,  similar  to  that  so 
common  among  the  poor  at  this  time,1  a  girdle  binding  it 
round  the  waist.2  Over  this  an  “abba”  was  worn  on  going 
out  of  doors,  and  this  latter  was  the  covering  of  the  wearer 
at  night.3  But  this  simple  dress  gave  place,  among  the 
rich,  to  as  many  varieties  of  costume  as  we  see  to-day. 
Human  vanity  is  much  the  same  in  all  ages,  and  as  strong 
among  not  a  few  of  the  one  sex  as  it  admittedly  is  in  most 
of  the  other.  Dives  had  his  purple  and  fine  linen,  and 
Jacob  was  only  human  when  he  dressed  his  favourite  son 
in  a  long  robe,  instead  of  the  short  peasant’s  smock  worn 
by  his  brethren ;  for  the  robe  known  as  that  of  many 
colours  seems  to  have  been  peculiar  rather  from  its  length 
than  from  its  gay  appearance.4  The  Hebrew  ladies,  indeed, 
seem  to  have  been  as  fond  of  dress  as  any  of  their  modern 
sisters,  to  judge  from  Isaiah’s  catalogue  of  the  different 
parts  of  their  wardrobe  and  from  their  jewel-cases  :  the 
ankle-chains,  the  golden  discs  and  crescents  for  the  hair, 
the  forehead,  and  the  neck;  the  ear-rings,  arm-chains,  and 
fine  veils  ;  the  coronets,  stepping-chains,  and  costly  girdles; 
the  scent-bottles  and  amulets  ;  the  finger  and  nose  rings ; 
the  gala  dresses  and  costly  mantles ;  the  cloaks  and 
purses ;  the  hand-mirrors  and  fine  linen  under- clothes ; 
the  turbans  and  large  veils.5  It  would  be  hard  to  match 
this  inventory  anywhere  in  Palestine  now. 

The  houses  of  Kefr  Howar,  our  camping-place,  were 
poor,  but  a  wonderful  improvement  on  those  of  Palestine, 
while  a  large  cattle-barn  behind  our  tents  was  a  really 
excellent  stone  building,  two  storeys  high  and  of  great 

1  2  Sain.  vi.  14—20. 

2  2  Kings  i.  8  ;  Matt.  iii.  4  ;  Jer.  xiii.  1. 

8  Deut.  xxiv.  13  ;  Luke  xxiii.  11  ;  John  xix.  2. 

4  Gen.  xxxvii.  3. 

5  Isa.  iii.  18 — 24.  See  Geikie,  Hours  with  the  Bible,  iv.  302. 


XLIX.] 


THE  LEBANON  MOUNTAINS. 


413 


size,  with  an  arch  in  the  centre  for  passage  to  the 
back.  One  of  the  stones,  set  at  the  inner  corner  of  the 
archway,  had  a  long  Greek  inscription ;  so  constantly  does 
the  remote  past  assert  itself  in  these  historic  lands.  I 
tried  to  take  a  “  squeeze  ”  of  it,  but,  being  a  novice  at  the 
work,  failed  in  a  triumphant  degree,  though,  as  a  German 
scholar  was  collecting  all  the  inscriptions  to  be  found  in 
the  neighbourhood,  this  was  not  much  to  he  regretted. 

The  road  to  Damascus  is  a  slow  and  pleasant,  indeed 
often  imperceptible,  descent  through  a  country  which, 
with  ordinary  government,  would  be  wonderfully  rich. 
For  many  miles  on  the  west  of  the  great  city  the  land¬ 
scape  sinks  into  a  plain,  sometimes  stony,  but  more  com¬ 
monly  fine  arable  soil.  Villages  are  very  scarce,  and 
there  are  few  trees ;  yet  the  view  was  always  delightful, 
for  the  hi  Hi  mountains  of  the  Lebanon  chain  bounded  the 

O 

horizon  on  the  north,  and  others  rose  at  different  points 
in  other  directions.  We  were  travelling,  in  all  prob¬ 
ability,  aloug  the  very  same  road — a  mere  track,  which 
industry  had  never  attempted  to  improve — over  which 
Abraham  and  his  tribe,  with  their  mighty  herds  and 
flocks,  had  wandered  towards  Palestine  four  thousand 
years  before,  aud  along  which  Jacob,  staff  in  hand,  had 
plodded  towards  Haran.1  Things  must  have  been  much 
the  same  around  them  as  around  us,  except  that  the 
population  and  wealth  of  the  district  were  probably  far 
greater  then  than  now,  for  Damascus  is  one  of  the  oldest 
cities  in  the  world.  To  the  south  iise  the  volcanic 
hills  of  the  Lejja,  a  strange  region,  where  lava  has 
crystallised  in  a  great  triangular  plateau,  wrinkled  and 
cracked  into  innumerable  fissures  as  it  cooled.  In  the 
days  of  our  Lord  it  was  part  of  the  Tetrarcliy  of  Philip, 
son  of  Herod  the  Great.  The  length  of  this  extraordi- 

1  Gen.  xii.  6;  xxix.  1. 


414 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


nary  region  is  about  twenty-two  miles,  from  north  to 
south,  and  fourteen  across  ;  the  whole  space  being  simply 
a  chaos  of  basaltic  rocks  and  boulders,  crossed  by  fissures 
and  crevices  in  every  direction.  The  bubbles  on  the  sur¬ 
face  of  the  once  liquid  fire-stream  still  show  themselves 
by  the  hollows  left  when  they  burst,  and  the  top  is 
roughened  into  low  waves,  marking  its  slow  heavings 
under  the  wind  before  it  finally  congealed. 

Strange  to  say,  this  forbidding  tract  is  thickly  studded 
with  the  remains  of  deserted  towns  and  villages,  built 
solidly  of  blocks  of  lava,  and  dating  from  early  Christian 
times.  No  proof  could  be  more  striking  of  the  insecurity 
of  life  and  property  in  the  last  centuries  of  Koine,  since 
nothing  but  desire  of  safety  can  be  conceived  as  the  reason 
for  such  a  place  being  peopled.  At  the  time  of  the  Hebrew 
invasion  it  was  part  of  the  territory  of  Og,  and  must  have 
been  almost  impregnable.  The  fierce  energy  of  the  in¬ 
vaders,  however,  still  in  its  early  enthusiasm,  carried  all 
before  it.  But  the  district  did  not  fall  in  the  first  cam¬ 
paign.  The  glory  of  its  final  conquest  is  ascribed  to  Jair, 
the  head  of  a  clan  of  the  tribe  Manasseh,  who  lived  at  a 
later  time  :  1  a  mighty  chieftain  boasting  of  thirty  sons — 
no  small  honour  among  Orientals — each  riding  as  a  chief 
on  his  own  white  ass  ;  and  the  whole  thirty  final ly  ruling 
over  various  towns  or  villages  taken  by  their  father.2  It 
had  been  a  haunt  of  robbers  for  ages  before  Christ,  but 
its  rough  population  was  at  last  bridled  by  the  energy 
and  genius  of  Herod  the  Great.  This  strange  plateau  is 
on  the  average  about  twenty  feet  above  the  plain  around 
it,  black  promontories  of  basalt  running  out  from  it,  here 
and  there,,  like  buttresses,  though  the  whole  stands  up, 
sharp  and  distinct,  amid  the  fertility  on  every  side.  At 
some  places  where  the  fissures  are  wide,  the  lava  has 
1  Dcut.  iii.  13;  Josh.  xiii.  30.  2  Juclg\  x.  3 — 5. 


XLIX.] 


THE  LEBANON  MOUNTAINS. 


415 


crumbled  into  rich  soil,  which  is  still  cultivated;  but 
though  there  are  many  points  on  the  upper  surface  from 
which  the  whole  lava-sea  is  under  view,  it  is  impossible  to 
cross  it,  so  innumerable  are  the  cracks  and  yawning  rifts. 
Strange  to  say,  there  are  not  a  few  springs  in  this  wild 
district,  so  that  water  is  not  deficient.  The  Romans, 
after  Herod,  held  it  with  a  firm  hand,  cutting  a  road 
through  it,  and  stationing  a  garrison  in  one  of  its  strong¬ 
holds  ;  thus  subduing  it  so  thoroughly  that  temples  built 
by  them,  amidst  what  is  now  so  strange  a  desolation,  are 
still  standing  in  fine  preservation. 

Half-way  to  Damascus,  on  the  left  hand,  at  the  foot 
of  the  mountains,  some  miles  off,  lay  the  great  village  of 
Katana,  surrounded  with  orchards  and  gardens,  full  of  all 
kinds  of  fruit-trees,  especially  walnuts.  The  minarets  of 
the  great  city  soon  glittered  before  us  in  the  distance,  but 
they  proved  still  a  very  long  way  off :  the  clear  air  de¬ 
ceiving  us  as  to  their  proximity.  Only  near  villages  were 
there  any  signs  of  the  richness  of  the  greatly-extolled 
plains  which  we  were  now  traversing  ;  but  round  them 
was  a  fulness  of  verdure  which  quite  hid  the  yellow- 
washed  houses.  Signs  of  approaching  a  large  city  ap¬ 
peared  as  we  rode  on :  the  carriage  of  some  rich  person 
passed  us,  and  also  some  hired  carriages,  with  nondescript 
drivers,  carrying  their  fares  to  their  destinations.  Mezzeh, 
a  village  outside  Damascus,  is  virtually  the  commencement 
of  the  city,  and  a  pleasant  place  it  is,  with  vineyards, 
groves  of  olives,  and  clumps  of  fruit-trees  of  many  kinds. 
The  fields  were  irrigated  by  a  canal  from  the  river  Barada, 
to  which  Damascus  and  the  neighbourhood  owe  their 
charms,  and  indeed  their  fitness  for  human  habitation,  for 
without  this  stream  there  could  be  only  sterility.  The 
sun  shone  from  an  unclouded  heaven  as  we  rode  on, 
always  at  a  walk,  towards  the  city,  over  the  same  road, 


416 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE.  [Chap.  XLIX. 


in  all  probability,  as  tbat  along  which  the  persecuting 
Saul  was  hurrying  with  his  attendants  when,  on  a  day 
as  bright  as  this,  the  Splendour  of  God,  outshining  even 
the  noon,  dazzled  him  to  blindness,  so  that  he  fell  to  the 
ground,  and  heard  the  words  “  Saul,  Saul,  why  perse- 
cutest  thou  Me?”1  Every  feature  of  the  surrounding 
landscape  stood  out  in  sharp  distinctness — hills,  bowers 
of  green,  towers,  buildings,  and  houses,  while  on  each 
side  of  the  road,  inside  roughly-plastered  walls  which  are 
no  credit  to  the  Damascus  masons,  great  lines  of  fruit- 
trees  stretched  away  in  green  perspective,  with  the  slow 
waters  of  irrigating  canals  glittering  underneath.  In  the 
west,  behind  us,  rose  the  majestic  Hermon,  its  blinding 
white  crown  reaching  far  up  into  the  cloudless  azure. 

1  Acts  ix.  4. 


CHAPTER  L. 


DAMASCUS. 

Damascus  lies  hidden  till  the  last  behind  a  very  wood 
of  fruit-trees,  interspersed  with  gardens — walnuts,  apri¬ 
cots,  figs,  olives,  pomegranates,  apples,  pears,  cherries, 
and  peaches  mingling  in  rich  confusion.  The  girdle  of 
verdure  round  the  city  is  about  three  miles  in  breadth, 
and  deserves  all  the  praise  it  has  received  as  a  magnificent 
display  of  the  bounty  of  nature.  Here,  you  come  on  an 
apparently  endless  grove  of  apricots.  Yonder,  on  the 
banks  of  an  irrigation  canal,  are  long  rows  of  poplars, 
which  wave  gently  in  the  soft  air.  Further  on  is  a  thicket 
of  every  kind  of  fruit-tree,  and,  between,  are  patches  of 
grain,  tobacco,  or  vegetables.  There  is  a  small  stream  to 
cross  almost  every  hundred  yards.  An  alley  of  high 
walnut-trees,  in  blossom,  lined  the  road  for  a  great  way, 
and,  as  might  be  expected  in  such  a  paradise  of  green, 
birds  of  all  kinds  are  said  to  make  music. 

It  is  hard  to  realise  the  impression  which  such  a 
glory  of  flower,  and  shrub,  and  tree  must  make  on  the 
weary  caravan  bands  who  arrive  from  Bagdad  or  Mecca, 
after  their  eyes  have  for  weeks  or  months  been  tired 
with  the  monotonous  tawny  sand-waves  of  the  desert 
or  the  scorched  peaks  of  bare  hills,  as  desolate  as  the 
sands  around  them  ;  and  when  for  weeks  together  they 
have  been  stinted  for  water  in  the  burning  heat.  We 
must  put  ourselves  in  the  place  of  those  who  have  had 
b  b 


418 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


sucli  experiences  to  understand  how  naturally,  and  with 
what  full  sincerity,  the  apparently  hyperbolical  praises  of 
Damascus  have  been  given.  To  them  it  is,  indeed, 
“  the  pearl  of  the  East,”  “  glorious  as  Eden,”  “  fragrant 
as  Paradise,”  “  the  plumage  of  the  peacock,”  “  the  lustre 
on  the  neck  of  doves.”  Yet,  compared  with  the  environs 
of  many  European  or  American  cities,  those  of  Damascus 
would  he  thought  hardly  deserving  such  ecstatic  praise. 
For,  if  nature  he  rich,  art  is  wanting.  There  is  no  beauty 
except  that  which  springs  from  the  soil ;  no  trim  walls 
or  fine  houses ;  no  general  neatness.  Nature  has  done 
much  ;  man  nothing.  Disorder,  semi  -  barbarism,  and 
roughness  mark  universal  neglect.  Indeed,  this  is  the 
characteristic  of  the  whole  city,  for  however  splendid 
the  interior  of  some  houses  may  be,  the  outside  is,  ap¬ 
parently  in  every  case,  very  humble,  and  generally  in 
disrepair,  probably  from  a  desire  to  avert  the  cupidity  of 
caimacans  or  pashas. 

Troops  of  camels  from  Bagdad,  with  loads  of  tobacco 
and  dates,  lay  outside  the  houses,  which  are  finally  ap¬ 
proached  by  the  road  from  Damascus  to  Beirout,  made  by 
a  French  company,  and  actually  like  a  Western  highway: 
a  wonderful  fact  in  Sjwia.  Meadows  sloped  down,  on  the 
left,  to  the  river,  which  flowed  in  a  slow  smooth  stream, 
like  a  broad  canal ;  flocks,  horses,  and  cattle  on  this  side , 
a  promenade  for  the  citizens  on  the  other.  Then  came  a 
hospice  for  pilgrims,  built  by  Sultan  Selim  I.  in  1516, 
covering  a  great  space  :  a  low  building,  the  roof  of  which 
is  a  mass  of  small  domes,  with  arches  beneath ;  two 
slender  minarets,  with  their  balcony  aloft  for  the  muezzin 
when  he  calls  to  prayer,  rising  on  one  side.  After  a  time, 
when  we  had  crossed  the  river  by  a  bridge,  the  scene  was 
varied  by  open-air  cafes,  which  were  no  more  than  an 
array  of  low  stools  set  out  in  the  shade  of  trees.  The 


L.] 


DAMASCUS. 


419 


omnipresent  water-carrier  passed  with  his  huge  jar,  or 
leather  bottle,  and  brass  cup,  inviting  you  to  purchase  ; 
men  at  the  roadside  sat  behind  a  round  table-head  laid 
over  a  basket,  displaying  stores  of  thin  “  scones,”  made 
tasty  with  butter  and  grape-syrup,  and  sprinkled  with 
sesame-seed,  inviting  customers  now  and  again  with  the 
cry,  “  God  is  the  Hourisher;  buy  my  bread!”  Ladies, 
veiled  or  unveiled,  with  Western  parasols,  rode  b\r  on  asses, 
a  bell  or  thick  tassel  hanging  at  the  animal’s  neck,  and 
the  donkey -boy,  stick  in  hand,  at  its  heels ;  gossips  sat  in 
crowds,  smoking  water-pipes  in  the  leafy  shade  ;  beggars, 
crossdegged,  turbaned,  and  picturesque,  squatted  by  the 
wayside,  asking  alms  ;  passengers  of  both  sexes,  bent  on 
many  errands  of  business  or  pleasure,  rode  or  walked, 
until  finally  we  halted  at  the  Victoria  Hotel,  close  to  the 
open  space  used  as  a  horse-market :  a  two-storeyed  house, 
with  large,  marble-paved  rooms  ;  the  Barada  flowing  be¬ 
fore  the  doors,  between  stone  walls. 

It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  Damascus  is  the 

%/ 

meanest-looking  city  I  ever  saw,  as  it  shows  itself  from 
the  streets.  Day  after  day  you  hope  to  come  on  something 
respectable,  but  learn,  to  your  surprise,  that  the  humble, 
dilapidated  streets,  or  dark,  dirty  bazaars,  through  which 
you  have  wandered,  include  the  best  parts  of  the  place. 
Mud  is  the  chief  material  of  the  houses,  though  stone 
could  easily  be  obtained  from  the  neighbouring  mountains. 
Some  houses,  and  the  mosques,  are,  indeed,  of  stone ;  but 
the  bulk  of  the  city  can  boast  no  prouder  material  than 
the  sun-dried  brick — that  is,  mud — of  which  the  old  city 
walls  are  built.  Hence,  though  it  is  asserted  that  there 
are  500  mansions  that  may  be  called  palaces,  one  would 
never  suspect  it,  in  riding  through  the  narrow  streets  with 
scarcely  any  windows,  and  only  low  and  mean-looking 
doors ;  the  ground,  a  bed  of  dust  in  dry  weather,  and  a 
b  b  2 


420 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


quagmire  after  rain.  Indeed,  so  perishable  are  the  build¬ 
ings  generally,  that  the  rains  of  each  winter  make  great 
repairs  necessary,  while  in  summer  they  crack  and  crumble 
away  in  the  dry  heat. 

The  shops  are  mere  holes  at  the  sides  of  the  streets, 
or  bazaars,  open  in  front,  with  their  wares  hung  up,  or 
spread  out,  before  all  passers-by.  There  is  an  old-clothes 
street  which  rivals  Houndsditch.  Saddle-bag  shops,  with 
the  master  and  his  helpers  busy  in  what  should  be  the 
window,  sewing  fresh  stock,  or  mending  what  has  been 
handed  to  them  to  repair ;  braziers,  with  a  fine  display 
of  copper  ewers,  basins,  trays,  and  bowls,  sold  by  weight, 
the  manufacture  going  on  all  the  time,  merrily,  in  the 
open  arch  or  window,  where  the  workmen  sit  beating 
and  hammering,  cross-legged,  in  turbans  or  tarbooshes ; 
cooks,  engaged  in  frying,  seething,  stewing,  in  the  open 
air,  or  equally  open  cave,  at  a  mud  table,  on  the  top  of 
which  are  small  holes  for  charcoal  fires  ;  butchers,  with 
necks  and  legs  of  goat  or  mutton,  the  latter  wonderfully 
small  and  uninviting — the  heads  of  beasts  being  con¬ 
spicuously  absent,  for  no  Oriental  would  eat  them  on  any 
account ;  fruit-sellers,  with  a  large  but  dusty  show  of  the 
yield  of  Damascus  orchards  or  vegetable  gardens ;  huge 
stacks  of  crockery,  neat,  hut  brittle  and  unglazed ;  any 
quantity  of  bread,  which  you  had  better  eat  without 
seeing  the  process  of  baking ;  shoes  for  the  pilgrims  to 
Mecca ;  slippers  for  use  at  home  or  in  the  streets,  and 
pattens  to  lift  the  fair  sex  above  the  mud  or  dust ;  piles 
of  wheat  in  wayside  granaries,  open  to  the  street ;  car¬ 
penters  busy  with  hands  and  feet,  for  they  steady  their 
work  with  their  toes,  as  they  squat,  while  busy  also  with 
their  hands ;  dyers,  with  little  vats  inside  the  open  arch, 
hard  at  work  at  their  craft,  with  hands  subdued  to  the 
colour  they  work  in ;  piles  of  earthenware  jars, — succeed 


L.] 


DAMASCUS. 


421 


eacli  other  in  turn.  The  bazaars  are  simply  great  stone- 
arched  lanes,  dark  enough  to  make  detection  of  faults 
in  anything  purchased  lamentably  difficult.  All  trades, 
moreover,  work  more  or  less  in  the  streets,  so  that  the 
sides  of  the  roads  are  a  varying  picture  of  Eastern  in¬ 
dustry.  Such,  no  doubt,  was  Jerusalem  in  Bible  times, 
including  those  of  our  Lord.  Many  of  the  streets  are 
roofed  over,  and  they  are  often  not  more  than  eight  feet 
broad ;  but  everywhere  is  an  indescribable  air  of  decay  and 
approaching  ruin.  In  the  side  streets,  the  projecting 
storeys  often  nearly  touch  each  other ;  the  successive  ad¬ 
vances  on  both  sides  propped  up  below  by  rough,  thin 
poles,  bent  and  unsightly,  no  tool  having  ever  touched 
them.  Straight  lines  in  the  projecting  walls  are  not  to  be 
found  ;  everything  looks  as  if  it  had  been  done  by  the 
tenants  themselves,  in  sublime  indifference  to  the  per¬ 
pendicular  or  the  horizontal.  Under-foot  the  condition  of 
things  had  better  not  be  described.  To  get  into  the 
house  of  the  Presbyterian  missionary  I  had  to  circum¬ 
navigate  a  sea  of  horrors  which  no  one  in  a  civilised 
country  could  realise. 

Yet,  inside,  the  houses  approached  by  such  unspeak¬ 
able  filth  were  at  times  very  fine.  One,  built  by  a  rich 
Jew,  long  dead,  had  a  great  room  of  marble  inlaid  with 
countless  small  mirrors  and  endless  precious  stones  ;  the 
snowy  white  of  the  marble  showing  these  off  to  great  effect. 
The  cost  of  such  a  chamber  must  have  been  immense. 
Another,  which  was  entered  by  an  old,  mean  door,  full  of 
nails,  from  a  street  redolent  of  something  very  different 
from  the  perfumes  of  Araby — with  high  walls  on  each  side, 
the  roughest  of  pavements,  and  the  poorest  of  shops — was, 
itself,  delightfully  clean.  A  court  paved  with  marble  had 
in  its  centre  an  octagonal  fountain,  with  tiles  round  it ;  a 
lemon-tree  rich  with  fruit  rose  in  one  corner ;  a  cypress  in 


422 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


another;  and  a  jessamine  clung  to  the  walls.  In  the  hall 
stood  a  great  carved  chest,  the  wardrobe  of  the  mistress  of 
the  family,  which  she  had  brought  as  a  bride.  At  the 
side,  a  door,  a  step  up,  opened  into  the  divan,  or  company 
room,  with  a  stone  floor  raised  another  step,  and  covered 
with  fine  mats  ;  a  sofa-like  seat  built  along  both  sides,  close 
to  the  wall,  and  adorned  with  cushions  of  shawl-patterned 
stuff,  while  the  hack  of  the  room  rose  still  higher,  and  had 
similar  accommodations.  On  entering  such  a  chamber 
visitors  take  off  their  shoes  or  slippers ;  partly  from  re¬ 
spect  to  the  host,  hut  still  more  because  prayer  may 
have  been  said  in  the  room,  making  it  holy  ground.  The 
house  of  the  British  Consul  was  much  more  splendid, 
though  not  more  Oriental,  with  the  same  large  court  and 
fountain,  hut  also  arcades  of  marble  pillars,  inlaid  with 
variegated  marbles  over  the  arches,  and  great  marble 
rooms.  Yet  here,  again,  the  approach  was  wretched,  and 
the  outside  poor. 

A  huge  pile  of  stones,  inside  a  high  wrall,  hut  rising 
above  it,  lay  on  my  way  ;  it  was  a  cairn  raised  over  the 
supposed  grave  of  Cain  ;  every  one  casting  a  stone  on  the 
heap,  in  execration  of  the  first  murderer.  In  the  same 
way,  as  I  have  already  said,  the  Hebrews  piled  stones  over 
the  burial-place  of  Achan,1  in  the  valley  of  Aclior,  in  the 
plain  of  Jericho ;  and  thus  they  treated  the  King  of  Ai.2 
Thus,  also,  “  they  took  Absalom,  and  cast  him  into  a  great 
pit  in  the  wood,  and  laid  a  very  great  heap  of  stones 
upon  him/’3  So,  further,  Jeremiah,  speaking  of  his  fate, 
tells  us,  “  they  have  cut  off  my  life  in  the  dungeon,  and 
cast  a  stone  upon  me.”4  There  are  no  stately  gates  at 
Damascus,  as  in  Cairo  or  Jerusalem,  and  even  the  mud 
walls  of  the  city  exist  only  in  detached  portions.  Houses 


1  Josh.  vii.  26. 

2  Josh.  viii.  29. 


3  2  Sam.  xviii.  17, 

4  Lam.  iii.  53. 


DAMASCUS. 


423 


L.] 

are  still  built  on  these,  with  windows  projecting,  so  as  to 
make  it  easy  for  anyone,  even  now,  to  escape,  as  St.  Paul 
did,  by  being  let  down  in  a  basket,1  or  as  the  spies  were 
let  down  from  the  walls  of  Jericho.2  One  window  is,  in¬ 
deed,  pointed  out  as  that  from  which  St.  Paul  descended, 
but  the  tradition  is  worthless. 

Damascus  has  been  from  the  earliest  asfes  a  chief 
centre  of  trade  between  East  and  West,  and  it  still 
connects  Bagdad  with  Constantinople  and  Cairo,  by  its 
numerous  caravans.  But  the  discovery  of  the  sea- route  to 
India,  by  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  gave  a  serious  blow, 
not  only  to  the  commerce  of  the  Italian  cities,  Venice  and 
Genoa,  but  also  to  that  of  Damascus,  which  had  absorbed 
most  of  the  trade  with  farther  Asia  till  this  new  path  to 
the  East  was  opened.  But  if  the  caravans  have  grown 
fewer,  there  has  of  late  years  been  a  proportionately  great 
advance  in  traffic  with  the  West,  by  means  of  the  French 
road  opened  from  Damascus  to  Beirout.  Native  industry, 
once  famous  for  its  silks  and  arms,  is  now  almost  driven 
from  the  market  by  European  competition.  The  wares  of 
Manchester,  Sheffield,  and  Birmingham  crowd  the  bazaars; 
those  of  Germany  and  France,  also,  are  well  represented. 
But  the  decay  of  the  silk  and  arms  manufactures  must 
not  be  imputed  wholly  to  Western  rivalry.  When  the 
Tartar  prince,  Timur,  took  Damascus,  in  a.d.  1400,  he 
carried  away  many  thousand  silk-weavers  and  arm-smiths 
to  Samarcand,  his  capital,  just  as  Nebuchadnezzar  did 
with  the  best  mechanics  of  all  kinds  in  Jerusalem,  in  his 
first  deportation  of  its  inhabitants.3 

As  in  Cairo,  though  to  a  smaller  extent,  the  most 
motley  crowds  are  to  be  seen  in  the  streets.  Thick-lipped 
negroes,  tattooed  Arab  women,  Bedouins  with  fiery  eyes 
and  tawny  beards,  Jews  with  sleepy  steps  and  cowed 

1  Acts  ix.  25.  2  Josh.  ii.  15.  3  2  Kings  xxiv.  14. 


424 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


looks,  Damascenes  in  every  variety  of  coloured  turban  and 
dress  ;  women  with  great  figured  veils  covering  them  all 
over,  making  the  head  look  wonderfully  like  that  of 
a  grasshopper  or  locust ;  and  not  a  few  people  with  fair 
hair  and  blue  eyes,  natives  of  I  know  not  what  countries — • 
throng  past,  helping  one  to  imagine  how  it  must  have 
been  in  ancient  Jerusalem,  when  that  city  was  in  its  glory. 
Nothing  could  be  more  striking  to  a  traveller  from  the 
West  than  the  differences  of  feature,  complexion,  and  dress. 
Nearly  every  religious  sect  has  its  own  colour  of  turban 
- — blue,  white,  red,  or  green.  Mixed  with  the  turbans  you 
see  the  mortar-like  crimson  tarboosh,  or  Turkish  cap,  with 
its  tassel ;  the  peaked  felt  headgear  of  the  dervish ;  the 
“  kefiyeh  ”  of  the  Arab,  with  its  band  of  soft  camels’-wool 
rope;  the  black  hat  of  the  Greek  clergy,  with  the  rim  at 
the  top ;  and  the  broad  dark  wideawake  of  the  European. 
Bicli  and  poor,  in  grand  array  or  in  humble,  on  foot  or 
on  horse  or  ass,  fill  all  the  streets  and  bazaars.  Here  a 
well-fed  Moslem,  whose  turban  shows  he  has  been  to 
Mecca,  strides  on  with  slow  pride,  counting  the  beads  of  his 
rosary  as  he  goes ;  yonder  is  a  band  of  thick-veiled  women, 
with  coloured  “  izars  ”  all  over  them,  completely  hiding 
the  human  shape ;  their  yellow  slippers,  without  heels,  the 
only  other  articles  of  dress  to  be  seen.  Now,  a  lean  ass, 
generally  very  small,  patters  by,  with  twro  or  three  small, 
half-naked  brown  boys  astride  it ;  presently,  a  Bedouin 
passes  by  on  his  horse ;  he  and  it  equally  gay  and  wild  in 
their  trappings.  Everywhere  the  tradesmen  and  mechanics 
squat,  out  of  doors  or  in  the  middle  of  their  stock — the 
grocer,  for  instance,  on  some  elevation  inside  his  open 
arch,  smoking,  trading,  reading,  writing,  or  gossiping. 
As  in  ancient  Jerusalem,  each  trade  has  its  own  street  or 
bazaar.  The  saddle  -  market  has  its  display  of  straps, 
girths,  great  spade-like  stirrup-irons,  huge  bits,  silver- 


L.] 


DAMASCUS. 


425 


embroidered  pistol-liolsters,  and  gay  saddles  witli  peaks 
before  and  beliind  ;  the  coppersmiths  hammer  their  wares 
into  shape  in  a  quarter  of  their  own,  some  of  their  great 
trays  measuring  nearly  six  feet  across ;  the  second-hand 
dealers  flourish  in  a  market  given  up  to  them,  offering 
everything  one  can  imagine,  like  our  marine  stores ;  the 
Greek  bazaar  is  devoted  to  sellers  of  weapons,  shawls, 
carpets,  clothing,  and  antiquities  of  which  most  were  made 
yesterday  ;  the  street  of  the  tailors  is  filled  with  busy 
knights  of  the  needle,  who  display  in  their  shops,  or, 
rather,  windowless  holes,  not  only  Eastern  but  European 
clothing,  velvet  caps,  fezzes,  white  linen  skull-caps,  and 
brightly  -  dyed  Persian  and  European  stockings.  The 
water-pipe  sellers  also  have  a  street  to  themselves  ;  some 
of  their  pipes  rude  enough,  others  gaily  decorated  on  the 
long  flexible  tube,  and  mounted  with  gold  or  silver  wire. 
A  long  row  of  stalls  is  sacred  to  the  drapers  ;  another  row 
to  the  booksellers,  a  very  bigoted  set,  too  proud,  in  many 
cases,  even  to  answer  an  unbeliever  who  may  ask  them 
a  question  as  to  their  stock ;  and,  not  to  mention 
others,  there  is  the  cloth  bazaar,  where  all  the  materials 
of  outside  dress  can  be  had  in  endless  variety.  There  are 
no  counters,  anywhere,  nor  does  any  customer  enter  the 
shop.  The  dealer  sits  in  wait  for  him,  reading  his  Koran 
till  he  appear,  or  smoking  a  water-pipe  hired  from  some 
street-purveyor  of  such  articles,  or  repeating  his  prayers, 
or  gossiping  with  his  neighbour,  turning  with  sublime 
slowness  and  condescension  to  anyone  who  stops  to 
examine  his  goods,  but  never,  or  very  rarely,  rising. 

The  cabinet-makers  struck  me  as  peculiarly  skilful  in 
their  art.  Chests,  tables,  and  the  pattens  used  at  Da¬ 
mascus,  finely  inlaid  with  mother-of-pearl,  lay  temptingly 
before  their  recesses.  The  shoemakers  display  long  rows 
of  sharp -pointed  slippers  and  boots,  of  soft  red  or  yellow 


426 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


leather:  the  slippers  for  women  elegantly  set  off  with  all 
kinds  of  ornament.  The  perfumery  shops  are  European 
in  their  appearance.  Barbers,  high  and  low,  abound ;  in 
many  cases  performing  their  rites  in  the  street,  where  you 
may  see  a  grave  Moslem  sitting  sedately  while  every  part 
of  his  head  is  shaved  except  the  one  tuft  by  which  he  is 
to  be  pulled  to  his  knees,  after  death,  by  the  angel  to 
whom  he  has  to  render  an  account  of  his  life.  The  food 
bazaars  are  well  supplied  with  ordinary  bread,  sweet  cakes, 
milk,  sugar,  coffee,  butcher’s  meat,  and  the  fruits  and 
vegetables  of  the  season.  Not  to  speak  of  oranges  from 
Sidon  and  Joppa,  or  of  dates  from  Cairo — dried  figs, 
apricots,  cherries,  plums,  grapes,  pomegranates,  almonds, 
and  apples  are  all  offered  in  abundance  as  they  ripen,  for 
at  Damascus  hardlv  a  month  is  without  its  own  fruit. 

Like  Christians,  and  probably  from  having  adopted. 
New  Testament  conceptions,  the  Moslem  pictures  heaven 
as  having  a  great  central  metropolis,  through  which  flows 
a  river  of  crystal  water,  overshadowed  by  all  kinds  of 
trees,  and  giving  off  its  irrigating  streams  all  around. 
Standing  on  the  edge  of  the  waterless  desert,  Damascus 
has  in  all  ages  seemed  to  the  Arabs,  and  Orientals  gene- 
rally,  to  realise  this  vision  ;  nor,  as  I  have  said,  can  we 
readily  conceive  the  1  vivid  impression  it  creates  in  races 
who,  outside  its  oasis,  know  only  of  sandy  wastes  where  life 
is  endurance  rather  than  enjoyment.  The  source  of  this 
contrast  is  the  river  Barada — the  A  ban  a  of  the  story  of 
Naaman 1 — which  rises  in  the  uppermost  heights  of  the 
Lebanon  chain,  and  flows  over  the  rocky  plateau  between 
the  giant  mass  of  Hermon  and  the  main  body  of  the 
mountains,  to  the  north.  Streams  from  both  sides  fall 
into  it  on  its  way,  as  it  glides  on  towards  the  east,  where 
the  land  is  low  and  open,  receiving  still  more  tributaries 

1  2  Kings  y.  12. 


L.] 


DAMASCUS 


427 


on  its  course,  and  itself  dividing  into  numerous  natural 
and  artificial  arms.  These,  however,  for  the  most  part, 
afterwards  reunite,  and  the  whole  stream  finally  loses 
itself  in  a  marshy  tract,  interspersed  with  lakes,  on  the 
western  edge  of  the  great  desert.  Some  miles  farther 
south,  a  smaller  river,  rising  in  Lebanon,  flows  to  the 
east,  gathering  on  its  way  numerous  streams  from  both 
sides,  and  finally  vanishes  in  another  swampy  lake,  south 
of  that  in  which  the  Abana,  or  Amana,  is  lost.  This  is 
the  Pharpar,  Naaman’s  second  river.1  The  wide  plain 
watered  by  this  network  of  rivulets  and  by  these  two 
main  arteries,  is  the  “  Damascus  Country ;  ”  and,  as  may 
readily  be  imagined,  this  fulness  of  water-supply  turns 
into  “  a  garden  of  God  ’’  what  would,  otherwise,  be  only 
a  part  of  the  great  Syrian  desert.  Eich  in  any  coun¬ 
try,  such  a  region  is  beyond  the  praise  of  words  in 
the  thirsty  East,  and  hence,  in  all  ages,  Damascus— built 
on  one  of  the  main  streams  of  the  Abana — has  with¬ 
stood  all  vicissitudes,  and  it  is  still  the  busy  hive  of 
perhaps  150,000  inhabitants,  although  in  past  ages  it 
has  been  repeatedly  destroyed.  The  Damascenes  are 
proud  in  the  extreme  of  their  rivers  and  of  a  remotely 
ancient  system  of  irrigation  connected  with  them,  which 
jwovides  every  house  with  running  water,  and,  according 
to  local  tradition,  existed  before  the  city  itself  was  built. 
It  is  easy,  therefore,  to  understand  the  haughty  outburst 
of  Naaman,  “  Are  not  Abana  and  Pharpar,  rivers  of 
Damascus,  better  than  all  the  waters  of  Israel?”2 

Damascus  lies  more  than  2,000  feet  above  the  sea,  but 
is  cut  off  from  the  cool  sea  wind  by  chains  of  mountains, 

1  2  Kings  V.  12. 

2  The  Abana  is  further  noticed  in  Canticles,  where  we  read  of  the  “top 
of  Amana  ” — that  is,  the  mountain  in  Anti-Lebanon  from  which  the  river 
springs. 


428 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


while,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  open  to  the  burning  air 
of  the  desert.  Its  damp  atmosphere,  moreover,  especi¬ 
ally  after  sunset,  exposes  it  to  fevers.  In  winter  it  is 
sometimes  cold  ;  snow  being  not  unknown,  while  fuel  is 
scarce.  Great  mounds  of  dung  stretch  along  outside  the 
city  wall,  to  be  used  as  fuel  for  heating  baths  and  ovens, 
showing  that  wood  is  not  to  be  easily  had.  In  the  height 
of  summer,  the  prevalent  uncleanness  of  the  streets, 
as  well  as  the  decay  of  vegetation,  poisons  the  air  with 
miasma ;  the  services  of  hordes  of  town  dogs,  which  eat 
up  all  kinds  of  carrion  and  garbage,  alone  preventing  a 
periodical  visit  of  the  plague. 

There  are  various  “  quarters  ”  in  the  city,  as  in  other 
Oriental  towns.  That  of  the  Jews  still  lies,  as  in  the 
days  of  the  apostles,  near  “  the  street  which  is  called 
Straight/’1  originally  a  noble  avenue,  with  a  broad  road 
in  the  middle,  and  a  line  of  portico,  like  that  of  the  Hue 
Eivoli  in  Paris,  at  each  side.  Now,  however,  only  the 
portico  on  one  side  is  open  ;  the  remainder  being  covered 
with  houses  or  otherwise  enclosed,  although  the  great 
triple  gate  at  one  end  of  the  street  shows  the  original 
design.  Some  of  the  houses  in  the  Jews’  quarter, 
though  mean  enough  externally,  are  wonderfully  fine 
within.  One  of  them  showed  what  the  mansion  of  a  rich 
Oriental  is  like,  better  even  than  the  rich  houses  I  had 
already  seen.  At  the  outer  entrance,  a  doorkeeper  had  his 
quarters,  opening  the  wooden  gate  only  after  repeated 
knockings,  like  the  porter  who  watches  the  gate  in  the 
parable  of  our  Lord.2  The  court,  when  entrance  was 
finally  gained,  proved  to  be  paved  with  polished  slabs  of 
basalt,  marble,  and  other  costly  stones.  A  fountain,  and  a 
flowing  stream,  with  shrubs  and  trees,  cooled  the  air. 
Pound  the  open  space  rose  the  walls  of  the  mansion, 
1  Acts  ix.  11.  2  Mark  xiii.  34. 


L.] 


DAMASCUS. 


429 


beautifully  adorned  with  sculpture,  but,  fine  as  they  were, 
they  were  altogether  transcended  by  the  interior.  Mirrors, 
marble  pillars,  arabesques,  and  mother-of-pearl  attracted 
in  turn ;  the  ceiling,  of  fine  wood,  as  high  as  that  of  many 
a  village  church,  was  richly  gilded.  Like  the  poor  mud 
huts  outside  the  city,  the  show  chamber  was  divided  into 
a  higher  and  a  lower  portion.  A  stream  of  crystal  water 
murmurs  through  the  under  half  in  many  houses,  though 
it  was  absent  in  this  one.  Two  or  three  marble  steps 
led  up  to  the  chief  seats.  Costly  carpets  were  spread 
over  the  floor,  and  a  divan,  covered  with  silken  cushions, 
ran  along  three  sides  of  the  wall.  The  “  chief  room  ”  in 
such  mansions  often  consists  of  three  halls ;  that  is,  of  a 
covered  room  at  each  side,  and  a  wide  open  space  between, 
forming,  together,  one  side  of  the  hollow  square  of  the 
entire  house.  On  the  flat  roof,  which  is  protected  by  a 
strong  breastwork,  it  is  very  common  to  sleep  in  the  heat 
of  summer,  steps  leading  up  to  this  retreat  from  the  outer 
court,  and  often,  also,  from  within  the  mansion. 

The  contrast  between  the  palaces  of  the  Jewish  mer¬ 
chants  and  the  buildings  of  the  Christian  quarter  is 
great.  Looking  over  the  latter  from  an  elevated  position, 
one  sees  from  the  ruins  of  churches,  monasteries,  streets, 
and  rows  of  mansions,  which,  nearly  fifty  years  ago,  lay 
in  hideous  confusion,  that  it  has  by  no  means  even  yet 
regained  the  prosperity  that  formerly  marked  it.  On  the 
9th  of  July,  1860,  the  Mahommedan  rabble,  stirred  up 
by  the  chiefs  of  their  faith,  broke  loose  on  the  Christian 
population  and  massacred  more  than  8,000  of  them. 
Twelve  churches,  various  monasteries,  and  nearly  4,000 
houses  were  destroyed  in  the  outbreak ;  the  pillars  of  the 
great  Greek  church  being  actually  broken  into  small  pieces 
by  the  wild  fury  of  the  mob.  Outside  the  city,  a  low, 
whitewashed,  Square  building  at  the  roadside,  with  no 


430 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


windows,  but  only  a  door  and  one  or  two  small  square 
boles  in  the  walls,  contains  all  that  is  left  of  the  victims. 
Bits  of  biers,  clothing,  and  the  wreck  of  human  bodies 
are  still  to  be  seen  when  one  looks  in,  and,  even  yet, 
the  stench  of  corruption  is  overpowering.  I  never  saw 
anything  so  horrible  as  that  charnel-house.  Fanaticism 
has  not  actually  broken  out  since,  but  the  spirit  of  the 
people  is  shown  only  too  plainly  by  their  firing  at  the 
walls  of  Christian  tombs,  whenever  they  get  a  chance. 

There  are  very  few  fine  buildings  in  Damascus;  the 
great  mosque,  indeed,  is  the  only  one  worth  seeing.  Ori¬ 
ginally  a  Christian  church,  as  early  as  a.d.  400,  tbe 
ground  was  seized  by  the  Moslems  soon  after  their  conquest 
of  Syria,  and  the  church  having  been  in  great  measure 
pulled  down,  the  mosque,  which  is  reckoned  one  of  the 
wonders  of  the  Mahommedan  world,  was  raised  in  its  place, 
only  small  parts  of  the  original  building  being  left.  One 
of  these,  the  top  of  the  great  gate,  is  still  to  be  seen,  by 
clambering  to  the  top  of  one  of  the  booths  in  the  bazaar 
of  the  booksellers  ;  the  rich  carving  showing  how  mag¬ 
nificent  the  whole  structure  must  have  been.  Over  the 
gate— that  is,  over  what  is  seen  of  it — there  runs,  in 
Greek,  on  a  level  with  the  flat  roofs  of  the  bazaar  shops, 
the  touching  legend  so  bitterly  falsified  in  this  particu¬ 
lar  instance  :  “  His  kingdom  is  an  everlasting  kingdom, 
and  His  dominion  endureth  from  generation  to  genera¬ 
tion.  But  we  may  safely  take  it  as  a  prophecy,  in  this 
case,  of  the  future  resurrection  of  Christianity  from  the 
grave  in  which  it  has  so  long  lain  buried  in  Damascus, 
for  the  words  must  some  day  come  true  ! 

One  of  the  present  gates  of  the  mosque  is  so  heavy 
that  it  takes  five  men  to  open  or  shut  it,  and  everything 
else  is  on  the  same  scale.  Wonderful  mosaics  look  down 
from  the  walls;  wood-carving  of  the  finest  abounds,  and 


L.] 


DAMASCUS. 


431 


the  great  pillars  look  grand,  in  spite  of  their  drapery  of 
whitewash.  The  plan  of  the  mosque  is  that  of  a  basilica, 
or  ancient  Christian  church  :  a  nave  with  two  aisles,  formed 
by  two  rows  of  pillars,  and  a  transept  with  four  massive 
pillars  of  coloured  marble.  The  dome  towers  high  aloft, 
but;  like  everything  around,  it  is  in  a  state  of  decay.  On 
the  south  side  is  a  row  of  arched  windows,  filled  with  beau¬ 
tiful  stained  glass,  and  beneath  these  are  prayer-niches, 
turned  in  the  direction  of  Mecca.  But  the  great  gate  still 
shows  the  Christian  origin  of  the  whole  vast  fabric,  for  on 
it  you  may  see  a  chalice  and  paten,  in  bronze.  In  its 
glory,  the  mosque  must  have  been  very  fine.  The  ICliali f 
el  Welid,  by  whom  it  was  built,  adorned  its  interior 
with  a  lavish  hand,  studding  it  with  columns  of  granite, 
syenite,  marble,  and  porphyry,  brought  to  Damascus  at  a 
huge  cost.  Much,  however,  of  the  early  splendour  is  gone. 
The  original  gigantic  cupola  was  burnt ;  the  present  one 
being  an  inferior  restoration.  The  first  pavement  was  of 
mosaic,  the  work  of  a  Byzantine  artist.  Seventy -four 
stained  glass  windows  threw  a  rich  dim  light  over  the 
aisles  and  nave.  Great  hospices  were  built  round  the 
walls,  for  the  entertainment  of  the  countless  pilgrims 
who  flocked  to  the  spot,  and  the  ritual  of  worship  in¬ 
creased  in  splendour  with  the  fame  of  the  sanctuary.  The 
mosque  soon  became  a  place  where  prayer  never  ceased. 
The  reading  of  the  Koran,  and  supplication,  says  an 
Arabic  chronicler  of  the  fourteenth  century,  were  never 
intermitted,  either  by  day  or  by  night ;  GOO  orthodox 
Moslems  being  paid  for  constant  attendance,  that  an 
audience  should  never  be  wanting.  A  single  prayer  in 
this  mosque  was  affirmed  to  be  worth  more  than  thirty 
thousand  elsewhere  ;  the  place  being  so  holy  that  Allah 
would  preserve  it  forty  years  after  the  rest  of  the  world 
was  destroyed,  that  men  might  still  pray  to  him  in  it. 


432 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BTBLE. 


[Ciiap. 


Damascus  is  first  mentioned  in  the  Bible  as  the  place 
where  Abraham  bought  the  slave  whom  he  made  his 
steward.1  It  is  said  that  the  patriarch,  who  was  at 
the  head  of  a  powerful  tribe,  made  himself  master  of 
the  then  feeble  town,  but  this  may  be  only  an  un¬ 
founded  tradition.  We  next  hear  of  the  city  when  the 
“  Syrians  of  Damascus  came  to  succour  Hadadezer,  king  of 
Zobah,”  in  the  reign  of  David,  who  soon  after  defeated 
their  army  nnd  made  himself  master  of  their  territory,2 
putting  “  garrisons  in  Syria  of  Damascus,”  and  receiving 
tribute  from  it.  But  this  state  of  things  did  not  last  long, 
for  a  revolt  under  one  Bezin  seems  to  have  re-established 
the  independence  of  Syria,  in  the  days  of  Solomon.3 
The  feud  thus  early  begun  between  Damascus  and  Israel 
continued  till  the  Syrian  capital  was  finally  taken  by 
Assyria ;  the  history  both  of  the  Ten  Tribes  and  of 
Judah  being  greatly  occupied  with  the  invasions  of  their 
territory  by  the  relentless  Syrian  foe.  One  inroad  took 
place  under  Baaslia,  the  northern  kingdom  being  then 
assailed ;  while  under  Omri  it  was  so  weakened  that  the 
Damascenes  obtained  the  right  of  opening  a  trade  quarter 
in  Samaria.4  Benhadad  II.,  pushing  matters  still  further, 
actually  besieged  Samaria  under  Ahab,  but  was  in  the  end 
forced  to  become  for  a  time  that  king’s  dependent.5 
Three  years  later,  however,  Ahab  met  his  death  while 
besieging  Bamoth  Gilead,  which  had  not  been  yielded  to 
him,  as  it  ought  to  have  been  under  the  treaty.6  Under 
Hazael,  Syria  once  more  “  oppressed  Israel  greatly,”  the 
king  extending  his  inroads  over  Judah  also.7  For  a 
time,  after  this,  victory  followed  the  Hebrews,  but  in  the 


1  Gen.  xv.  2. 

2  2  Sam.  viii.  5,  6  ;  1  Chron.  xyiii.  5,  6. 

3  1  Kings  xi.  23 — 25. 

7  2  Kings  viii.  28,  29  ;  x.  32,  33  ; 


4  1  Kings  xv.  19,  20  ;  xx.  34. 

5  1  Kings  xx.  13 — 34. 

G  1  Kings  xxii.  1 — 4, 15 — 37. 
xii.  17, 18  ;  Amos  vi.  1,  2. 


L.] 


DAMASCUS. 


433 


end,  Pal,  of  Assyria,  took  Damascus  and  closed  the 
struggle. 

Mahommedanism  is  nowhere  more  bigoted  than  in 
Damascus  ;  hence  missionary  work  makes  little  apparent 
progress  in  winning  converts  from  that  faith,  though  I  was 
told  that  some  had  secretly  become  Christians.  But  such 
proselytes  are  of  little  worth,  even  if  they  really  exist,  for 
if  a  man  has  not  the  courage  to  confess  his  faith,  he  helps 
error  rather  than  the  truth  he  claims  to  have  embraced. 
Much,  however,  is  being  done  in  the  city.  The  Irish  Pres¬ 
byterian  Church  has  two  missionaries,  with,  I  understood, 
seventy  communicants,  but  not  from  among  the  Moslems  ; 
and  it  also  has  schools  in  Damascus  and  the  villages  round 
it.  A  Bedouin  Mission,  under  the  Church  Missionary 
Society,  cares  for  the  Arabs  of  the  Hauran ;  its  admirable 
agent,  the  Bev.  W.  P.  Connor,  by  his  arduous  journeys 
from  camp  to  camp,  over  a  great  district,  amidst  much 
fatigue  of  body  and  mind,  and  with  great  self-denial 
alike  in  food  and  lodging,  helping  to  bring  before  us 
features  of  the  early  efforts  of  Christianity  in  these  very 
regions,  when  the  Church  was  scattered  abroad  every¬ 
where,  preaching  the  Gospel.1  There  are  also  a  Jews’ 
Mission,  with  a  large  Sunday-school ;  a  Medical  Mission 
from  the  Edinburgh  Society  for  such  work  ;  a  vigorous 
branch  of  the  British  Syrian  school  organisation,  with 
150  girls  under  instruction ;  and  a  Blind  School,  with 
forty-five  poor  little  sightless  scholars.  There  is,  besides, 
a  boys’  school,  with  an  attendance  of  135.  Good  is  thus 
being  done,  beyond  question. 

The  view  of  Damascus  from  any  lofty  roof  in  the  city 
is  very  striking.  A  vast  sea  of  low,  flat-roofed  houses, 
with  innumerable  small  domes  rising  from  them  like  so 
many  bubbles,  stretches  out  on  every  side,  the  minarets 

1  Acts  viii.  4. 


c  c 


434 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


and  cupolas  of  nearly  200  mosques  standing  up  from 
among  them.  Round  this  human  hive  a  broad  band  of 
green  marks  the  far-famed  gardens,  which,  however,  are 
very  different  from  our  beautifully-kept  grounds ;  owing 
much  more  to  nature  than  to  either  art  or  care.  In  the 
distance,  to  the  west,  the  silver  head  of  Hermon  glitters 
in  the  upper  sky.  To  the  north  rise  frightfully  desolate 
and  barren  mountains,  a  vivid  contrast  to  the  laughing 
fertility  of  the  plain  at  their  feet.  Eastwards,  there 
stretches  out  beyond  the  horizon  a  great  plain,  alternating 
in  tracts  of  luscious  meadow,  rich  corn-field,  and  stony 
pasture.  At  the  foot  of  the  northern  hills,  on  a  site 
higher  than  that  of  Damascus,  the  rich  suburb,  Salahiyeh, 
attracts  the  eye :  a  favourite  resort  in  summer  for  the 
richer  classes  of  the  city,  when  the  heat  makes  removal 
desirable  alike  for  health  and  comfort. 

With  all  the  neglect  of  which  they  show  signs,  the 
gardens,  in  sujh  a  region,  are  a  wonderful  attraction,  with 
their  many  spots  of  romantic  beauty,  where  nature  has  its 
own  way  and  water  is  abundant.  You  come  in  one  place 
upon  a  broad  stream,  embowered  in  green,  with  a  verdant 
island  rising  in  the  midst  of  the  waters,  and  crowned  by 
a  mill.  Farther  on,  part  of  the  stream  rushes  along  in 
a  deeper  bed  ;  elsewhere,  another  arm  of  the  river  flows 
gently  beneath  bending  trees.  Over  the  banks  there  is,  it 
may  be,  a  balcony  projecting  from  some  suburban  house  or 
mansion,  a  lounging-place  where  coffee  and  nargilelis  be¬ 
guile  the  afternoon.  The  charm  of  such  a  retreat  in  the 
dry,  fiery  summer  may  be  imagined.  The  Moslem  thinks 
he  realises,  in  these  many-coloured  groves  and  shining 
waters,  the  ideal  of  paradise  in  the  Koran,  as  a  place  of 
shady  trees  overhanging  crystal  streams;  and,  very  pos¬ 
sibly,  the  imagery  of  Mahomet  was  drawn  from  the  sights 
that  met  him  round  Damascus,  for  they  are  nowhere 

3  %j 


L.] 


DAMASCUS. 


435 


else  to  be  seen.  But  the  paradise  is  only  an  earthly  one, 
for  in  the  summer  time,  when  its  coolness  and  beauty 
are  of  greatest  value,  the  moist  air  is  filled  with  countless 
stinging  insects.  Fevers,  also,  and  other  maladies  are 
more  plentiful  than  elsewhere.  Hence  Europeans,  as  far 
as  possible,  leave  the  city  in  the  hot  months,  and  seek  a 
home  in  the  mountains,  as  is  also  done  at  Beirout.  Yet 
there  are  few  places  in  the  world  so  famous  for  fruit  as 
this  region.  Here  flourish  apricots,  cherries,  almonds, 
plums,  apples,  pears,  walnuts,  pomegranates,  mulberries, 
pistachio-nuts,  olives,  citrons,  and  magnificent  grapes,  of 
which  latter  is  made  a  wine  much  prized  throughout 
Syria.  Eight  larger  arms  of  the  Abana  flow  through  the 
plain  west  of  the  city,  and  there  are,  besides,  many  noble 
springs  which  burst  from  the  ground  at  different  parts. 

Before  leaving  Damascus  I  paid  a  visit  to  the  tomb 
of  Salad  in,  which  I  was  able  to  see  through  the  influence 
of  some  friends.  It  stands  in  a  paved  court  near  the 
great  mosque,  in  a  detached  building,  neglected  and  in 
very  bad  repair.  Inside  a  moderately  -  sized  chamber 
stood  a  raised  tomb,  very  simple,  built  of  inlaid  slabs  of 
marble ;  the  whole  about  five  feet  high,  with  raised  stones 
at  each  end ;  a  huge  green  turban  crowning  that  at  the 
head.  The  old  turban,  they  said,  was  underneath,  but 
fresh  swatliings  being  added  as  each  earlier  one  decays, 
the  whole  has  now  come  to  a  vast  circumference.  At 
the  side  of  Saladin’s  modest  resting-place  was  that  of 
his  most  famous  general,  but  this  tomb  was  still  in  the 
humble  original  wood,  now  nearly  900  years  old.1  On 
this  also,  at  the  head,  rested  a  huge  green  turban.  Such 
was  all  that  remained  of  the  glory  of  the  favourite  lieu¬ 
tenant  of  the  great  Sultan  of  Egypt  and  of  Syria,  and 
of  that  Sultan  himself,  the  destroj^er  of  the  Christian 

1  Saladin  was  born  about  1137,  and  died  in  1193,  being  only  fifty-six. 
c  c  2 


436 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap.  L. 


empire  of  Palestine,  but  tlie  most  chivalrous  of  foes.  The 
mouldered  form  that  lay  so  near  me  had  once  led  a  vic¬ 
torious  army  into  Damascus,  Aleppo,  Edessa,  Nisibis,  and 
Jerusalem,  and  had  received  the  swords  of  the  captive 
knights  and  princes  of  Christendom,  after  the  great  battle 
of  Hattin.  Once  the  glory  of  Islam  and  the  equal  foe  of 
the  mightiest  kings,  a  lonely  tomb  now  holds  all  his 
greatness !  I  could  not  help  thinking  of  the  grand  lines 
on  Hannibal’s  glory  in  life  and  nothingness  in  death,  in 
the  Tenth  Satire  of  Juvenal. 


CHAPTER  LI. 


BAALBEK  AND  THE  CEDARS  OF  LEBANON. 

Before  leaving  Damascus  a  curious  illustration  of  the  cost 
of  war  crossed  my  way.  A  British  hussar  officer  accom¬ 
panied  by  a  veterinary  surgeon  arrived  at  the  hotel,  on  a 
mission  to  the  city  to  purchase  300  horses  for  the  force  in 
the  Soudan  sent  to  rescue  General  Gordon.  From  Da¬ 
mascus  they  were  going  to  Barbary,  on  the  same  errand, 
and  they  asked  my  friend  the  army  surgeon  to  go  with 
them.  I  afterwards  found  that  a  great  number  of  the 
students  of  the  American  College  at  Beirout  had  been 
appointed  interpreters  for  our  troops,  and  were  away  with 
them  on  the  weary  ascent  of  the  Nile  towards  Khartoum  ! 

The  diligence  from  Damascus  to  the  coast  started  at 
half-past  four  in  the  morning,  long  before  daylight.  We 
were  tired  of  tents,  our  experience  in  the  entomological 
direction  having  been  very  unpleasant.  The  road  was 
excellent :  the  diligence  horrible.  I  was  perched  aloft 
behind  the  driver,  with  two  companions,  in  a  space  which 
could  scarcely  by  any  squeezing  hold  three.  My  com¬ 
panion  had  a  seat  inside,  looking  out  through  a  window 
in  front  at  the  horses’  tails.  It  was  delightful,  however, 
to  sit,  after  the  weariness  of  long  weeks  on  horseback  at  a 
walk ;  and  the  rate  at  which  we  swept  on  kept  one  supplied 
with  plenty  of  novelty  in  the  landscape,  after  light  had 
revealed  the  country  round.  The  journey  for  five  hours 
was  up  and  down  the  long  slopes  of  Lebanon,  which  rose 


438 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


and  fell  in  seemingly  endless  succession.  How  far  the 
road  is  above  the  sea  at  its  highest  point,  I  do  not  know, 
but  it  certainly  climbs  thousands  of  feet.  Six  horses,  or 
horses  and  mules,  dragged  us  upwards,  very  rarely  ceasing 
to  trot  at  a  good  rate.  It  was  curious,  as  the  day  went 
on,  to  see  European  agency  at  various  points — watering- 
carts,  rollers  to  crush  the  stones  on  the  road  into 
smoothness,  and  wheelbarrows  to  carry  material  hither  or 
thither.  The  stations  were  well  built  of  stone,  but  there 
was  no  provision  for  refreshment.  The  driver  faced  the 
cold  in  a  fur  coat  and  manifold  wrappings ;  and  his 
assistant,  at  his  side,  covered  his  head  with  a  “  kefiyeh  ” 
and  placidly  slept,  snug  in  coat  over  coat. 

Our  goal,  on  the  way  to  Baalbek,  was  Shtora,  a  small 
village  in  the  magnificent  plain  that  runs  up  between 
the  two  chains  of  Lebanon.  At  a  small  station-house  at 
the  roadside,  a  Montenegrin  host  offered  refreshments 
prepared  by  Lis  wife,  a  Greek ;  and  to  make  the  spot  still 
more  cosmopolitan,  our  fellow-guests  were  a  German  and 
his  wife  from  Constantinople,  where  they  were  in  business. 
Sheep  must  be  abundant  at  Shtora,  if  one  may  judge 
from  the  huge  array  of  stewed  sheep’s  kidneys  served  at 
dinner :  the  one  but  ample  dish.  Eruit,  and  wine  after¬ 
wards,  completed  the  meal. 

The  Bekaa,  or  “  the  Cleft,”  as  the  broad  valley  on  the 
edge  of  which  Shtora  lies,  close  under  the  western  hills, 
is  called,  is  a  broad  plain,  known  anciently  as  Ccele- 
Syria,  or  “  Hollow  Syria.”  In  ages  long  past  every  part 
of  this  magnificent  sweep  of  country,  and  far  up  the 
mountains  on  each  side  of  it,  was  richly  cultivated ;  and 
it  is  still  at  many  parts  green  with  crops,  or  rich  with 
vineyards  and  gardens,  though  the  population  is  not  suf¬ 
ficient  to  use  more  than  a  small  space  of  its  wide  surface. 
The  road  to  Baalbek,  simply  a  track  with  no  artificial 


LI.]  BAALBEK  AND  THE  CEDAES  OF  LEBANON.  439 

improvement,  runs  to  the  north  along  the  foot  of  the 
hills,  some  of  which,  on  both  sides,  rise  into  magnificent 
mountains.  Our  conveyance  was  a  wretched  affair,  with 
seats  of  American  cloth,  so  narrow  and  smooth  that  it 
was  almost  impossible  to  keep  one’s  seat  on  them,  and 
the  two  sides  so  close  together  that  they  could  only 
have  been  occupied  by  passengers  fitting  their  knees  into 
each  other,  like  the  teeth  of  two  combs.  Luckily  there 
was  only  one  other  passenger  besides  the  doctor  and 
myself,  so  that  this  trouble  was  escaped.  The  roof  barely 
allowed  us  to  sit  up  straight,  hut  we  could  lean  to  one 
side.  Had  there  been  six  travellers,  as  there  are,  I 
suppose,  at  times,  figs  in  a  box  would  not  have  been 
packed  more  closely  than  we  should  have  been.  Flat- 
roofed  villages,  chiefly  built  of  stone,  with  great  cattle- 
houses,  brightened  the  slopes  at  intervals.  Stems  of  vines 
trained  along  the  ground,  hut  not  yet  budding,  spoke  of 
future  grape  gatherings ;  orchards  of  apricots,  peaches, 
figs,  pears,  and  many  other  fruit-trees  abounded ;  brooks 
rushed  down  the  hills,  or  flowed  peacefully  on  their 
course  to  the  Litany  through  fields  which  they  fertilised  ; 
shining  in  great  bends  in  the  midst  of  the  plain.  The 
men  were  soberly  dressed  in  jackets  and  baggy  trousers  ; 
hut  the  women  were  like  so  many  tulips  in  their  bright¬ 
ness  and  variety  of  colour. 

The  driver,  a  mere  lad,  showed  himself  an  adept  at 
roguery.  On  changing  horses  he  flatly  refused  to  take  us 
any  farther  without  a  present  of  quite  a  sum  of  money, 
and  we  were  ultimately  forced  to  give  it,  hut  he  paid  dearly 
for  his  cleverness.  The  teacher  of  the  American  school  at 
Baalbek,  hearing  of  the  swindle,  begged  us  to  go  with  him 
to  the  Turkish  kadi,  who  gave  us  speedy  redress.  Sum¬ 
moning  before  him  the  representative  of  the  omnibus,  who 
lived  in  the  village,  he  made  him,  then  and  there,  refund 


440 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


us  what  had  been  charged  beyond  the  legal  fare  :  a  matter 
of  joy  to  the  schoolmaster,  to  whom  we  handed  it  over  as 
our  subscription  to  his  Mission. 

It  was  afternoon  before  we  drew  up  at  Baalbek,  after 
stopping  a  short  distance  from  it  to  look  at  a  circular 
“  weli,”  or  place  of  prayer,  with  polished  red  granite  columns 
carried  off  from  the  ancient  temple.  No  interest  attaches 
to  this  confused  theft  from  antiquity.  “  The  Victoria 
Hotel,”  at  which  we  rested,  is  clean  and  comfortable  enough 
when  you  get  into  your  bedroom,  but  the  entrance  is  like 
that  of  a  stable-yard.  Clean  beds  and  good  plain  fare, 
however,  left  no  ground  for  complaint,  especially  as  the 
charges  were  moderate.  We  were  at  last  at  Heliopolis,  or 
Baalbek,  famous  from  the  remotest  ages  for  its  temples, 
as  one  sees  in  the  tract  on  “  The  Syrian  Goddess,”  attri¬ 
buted  to  Lucian.  Lofty  pillars,  proclaiming  its  situation, 
are  seen  from  a  great  distance,  standing  on  higher  ground 
than  the  plain.  The  great  ruins  are  to  the  west  of  the 
present  village  of  Baalbek,  close  to  the  foot  of  the  eastern 
hills.  Their  special  glory  seems  to  lie  in  the  fact  that 
Grecian  art  has  here,  in  a  way  quite  unique,  imitated  the 
colossal  scale  of  the  monuments  of  ancient  Egypt,  and 
yet  has  impressed  on  the  whole  the  stamp  of  free,  all- 
constraining  genius.  Bows  of  pillars,  of  huge  girth  and 
height,  tower  upwards  in  consummate  elegance  of  pro¬ 
portion,  seeming  slender  and  graceful  in  their  loftiness, 
and  bearing  Corinthian  capitals,  exquisitely  carved,  which 
look  delicate  as  those  of  Greece.  Yet  two  men  cannot 
make  their  arms  meet  round  the  columns,  and  the  capitals 
are  more  than  seven  feet  across.  With  the  mouldings 
below,  the  colonnade  rises  to  the  height  of  seventy-six  feet. 
The  ruins  extend  over  a  vast  space,  which  is  well-nigh 
covered  with  fragments  of  huge  pillars,  or  even  whole  ones, 
gigantic  architraves  and  plinths,  each  carved  with  the 


LI.]  BAALBEK  AND  THE  CEDARS  OF  LEBANON. 


441 


most  elaborate  finish,  and  great  hewn  stones.  Earthquakes 
have  borne  the  chief  part  in  bringing  about  this  destruc¬ 
tion,  but  barbarism  also  has  lent  its  hand.  Great  holes 
are  to  be  seen  in  many  pillars,  where  the  natives  have  cut 
out  the  clamps  which  held  the  different  stones  together ; 
the  iron  and  lead  being  of  supreme  value  in  their  eyes. 
The  pillars  would  be  wonderful  even  if  they  rested  on  a 
natural  surface,  but  it  is  still  more  astonishing  to  find  that 
the  whole  series  of  temples  is  built  on  an  artificial  plat¬ 
form,  so  high  that  the  colossal  archways  and  substructures 
beneath,  of  themselves  excite  admiration. 

The  portico  of  the  great  temple  is  at  the  east  end  of 
the  ruins,  and  must  have  been  approached  by  flights  of 
steps,  as  its  floor  is  nearly  twenty  feet  above  the  orchards 
below.  It  is  thirty-six  feet  in  width,  and  had,  originally, 
twelve  columns  before  it ;  the  bases  remaining  of  two  of 
them  record  that  the  temple  was  erected  by  Antoninus 
Pius,  who  reigned  from  a.d.  138  to  a.d.  161,  and  by  Julia 
Domna,  the  wife  of  the  Emperor  Septimus  Severus, 
who  was  married  to  him  about  a.d.  175,  and  ended  her 
days  in  a.d.  217  by  starving  herself  to  death!  A  poor 
exit  for  one  who  had  been  empress  of  the  world  for 
more  than  forty  years !  Passing  through  this  portico, 
you  enter  a  six-sided  court,  sixty-five  yards  long  and 
about  eighty-tliree  yards  wide,  more  or  less  in  ruin. 
From  this  you  pass  into  the  great  court  of  the  temple, 
147  yards  long  and  123  yards  wide;  its  walls  elabo¬ 
rately  ornamented,  though  in  an  inferior  style  to  some 
other  parts,  having  been  built  later.  Chambers  open  at 
many  points — once  the  cells  of  priests  and  the  storehouses 
of  the  sanctuary ;  all  richly  ornamented.  Before  these 
stood  rows  of  pillars;  some  of  them  of  syenite,  but  all,  or 
nearly  all,  long  since  fallen  ;  their  wreck  lying  about,  or 
buried  in  the  deep  rubbish.  Beyond  this  great  court, 


442 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


which  of  course  was  never  roofed,  stood  the  chief  temple ; 
but  of  this  little  now  remains.  The  six  huge  columns, 
seen  long  before  reaching  Baalbek,  are,  indeed,  all  that  is 
left  of  it.  Nineteen  such  pillars  once  rose  on  each  side  of 
the  temple,  and  ten  at  each  end,  many  of  them  still  lying 
around  in  melancholy  ruin.  The  sanctuary  they  sur¬ 
rounded  stood  on  a  basement  fifty  feet  above  the  surround¬ 
ing  plain,  but  even  its  shape  can  no  longer  be  traced. 

Distinct  from  the  great  edifice,  another  temple,  smaller 
in  size  but  wonderful  in  its  architecture,  stands  a  little  to 
the  south-east,  the  far-famed  Temple  of  the  Sun.  It  has 
no  court,  and  rises  from  a  platform  of  its  own,  ascended 
in  old  times  by  a  staircase  from  the  plain  below.  Like 
the  larger  ruin,  it  was  once  surrounded  by  fine  pillars, 
fifteen  on  each  side,  and  eight  at  each  end,  but  only  a  few 
remains  of  these  survive.  A  gorgeous  ceiling  of  carved 
stone  once  united  this  grand  arcade,  all  round,  with  the 
temple ;  but  it  is,  of  course,  gone,  although  its  beauty 
may  be  imagined  from  huge  fragments  strewn  on  the 
ground.  The  great  gateway  is  famous  as  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  remains  of  antiquity.  Door-posts  and  lintel, 
alike,  are  huge  monoliths,  carved  elaborately  with  the 
most  charming  skill.  Overhead,  a  gigantic  mass  from  the 
centre  of  the  lintel,  fractured  by  its  own  enormous  weight 
or  by  lightning  as  long  ago  as  1659,  hung  down,  till 
lately,  as  if  about  to  fall,  nothing  holding  it  in  its 
place  save  a  slight  bulge  at  its  upper  side ;  but  this 
Damocles’  sword  has  now,  after  more  than  200  years, 
been  supported  by  an  unsightly  shaft  of  masonry,  built 
by  the  Turks,  under  pressure  from  the  traveller  Burton, 
recently  our  consul  at  Damascus.  A  great  pillar  at  each 
side  of  this  gateway  contained  a  winding  stair,  by  which 
to  reach  the  top  of  the  building,  but  one  of  the  two  flights 
is  now  gone,  and  the  other  is  partially  in  ruins. 


LI.]  BAALBEK  AND  THE  CEDARS  OF  LEBANON.  443 

The  open  area  inside  is  no  less  elaborately  ornamented 
than  the  magnificent  entrance,  twelve  fluted  Corinthian 
pillars  adorning  the  sides,  while  the  spaces  between  them 
are  set  off  with  finely-carved  niches,  originally  filled  with 
statues.  At  the  far  end  was  once  the  Holy  of  Holies, 
which  had  been  roofed  over  with  great  stones,  two  im¬ 
mense  pillars  supporting  the  heavy  weight,  as  seen  by 
their  fragments  still  lying  about.  Three  arches  had 
reached  across  as  a  screen,  and  between  the  pillars  had 
risen  a  stone  dais,  the  base  from  which  these  arches  sprang, 
four  or  five  feet  high,  and  carved  with  figures  playing 
instruments.  A  statue  twelve  feet  high,  now  in  Constan¬ 
tinople,  stood  on  this  dais.  ldound  the  bends  of  the 
niches  and  blind  windows  on  the  wralls  are  wreaths  of 
fruits  ;  here  grapes,  there  acorns,  yonder  figs  ;  hut  it  is 
striking  to  notice  that  some  of  the  window-like  niches 
have  never  been  finished,  the  carving  to  complete  them  not 
having  been  added.  Arches,  from  the  wrall,  bend  over  to¬ 
wards  those  which  faced  the  spectators — perhaps  to  hear  up 
a  gallery  for  some  special  purpose ;  and  beneath  the  dais 
are  four  chambers,  built  for  what  ends  I  know  not.  How 
grand  the  whole  must  have  been,  may  be  judged  from 
the  fact  that  the  Corinthian  capital  of  one  fallen  pillar 
measures  nearly  seventeen  feet  in  circumference. 

The  vaults  beneath  the  great  temple  seem  to  me 
almost  as  wonderful  as  the  marvellous  structure  above 
them.  The  temple,  with  its  throngs  of  worshippers, 
rested  with  all  its  incalculable  weight  on  a  series  of  sub¬ 
structions,  through  wdiich  one  wanders  as  through  the 
stone  arches  of  huge  bazaars,  which  branch  out  in  every 
direction.  Indeed,  the  seen  bore  hut  a  modest  proportion 
to  the  unseen,  just  as  in  the  great  Temple  of  Jerusalem. 
Nor  is  the  size  of  the  stones  in  the  outer  enclosing  wall, 
which  shut  in  all  the  magnificence  of  Baalbek,  less  amazing. 


414 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


At  one  place  this  wall  is  ten  feet  thick,  and  contains  nine 
stones,  each  about  thirty  feet  long.  These,  however,  seem 
nothing  compared  to  three  others  in  the  western  wall — 
perhaps  the  largest  stones  ever  used  in  building.  One 
is  sixty-four  feet  long,  and  the  shortest  of  the  three  is 
sixty-two  feet,  while  each  is  about  thirteen  feet  high,  and 
probably  as  many  feet  thick,  and  these  vast  masses  are 
fitted  so  exactly  to  each  other  that  it  is  easy  to  overlook 
the  place  where  they  join.  Indeed,  it  is  difficult  to  thrust 
a  penknife-blade  between  them.  How  were  such  masses 
separated  from  the  rock  of  the  quarry  ?  How  were  they 
dragged  to  their  present  site  ?  And,  above  all,  how  were 
they  lifted  to  the  top  of  substructions  nineteen  feet  high, 
and  then  laid  down  in  position  as  neatly  as  if  they  had 
been  ordinary  blocks  P  Who  did  it,  and  when  ?  The 
engineers  of  antiquity,  with  no  steam-power  to  help* 
them,  must  have  been  wondrously  clever.  We  are  so 
accustomed  to  think  ourselves,  and  the  present  genera¬ 
tion  all  over  the  world,  more  advanced  than  the  ancients, 
that  it  is  well  to  have  our  pride  abated  by  such  miracles 
as  this  at  Baalbek. 

A  third  very  beautiful  temple,  smaller  than  the  two 
others,  and  well  preserved,  stands  on  the  outskirts  of  the 
present  village.  Passing  between  dry  stone  walls  en¬ 
closing  gardens  and  orchards,  and  stepping  over  running 
brooks  which  keep  all  things  brightly  green,  you  enter  a 
quiet  spot,  beautiful  with  flowing  water  and  fruit-trees. 
Here  is  a  semi-circular  structure,  with  eight  fine  pil¬ 
lars  outside  ;  between  these  are  niches,  with  shell  tops ; 
wreaths  of  foliage  hang  down  above,  but  the  whole  is 
now  slowly  decaying.  What  god  was  worshipped  here  ? 
The  great  temples,  we  know,  occupied  the  place  of  older 
ones  sacred  to  Baal,  the  sun-god,  for  the  Greek  name  of 
Baalbek  was  Heliopolis,  “  the  City  of  the  Sun/’  but  it  is  a 


LI.]  BAALBEK  AND  THE  CEDARS  OF  LEBANON. 


445 


matter  of  doubt  to  whom  this  miniature  sanctuary  was 
dedicated. 

A  quarter  of  an  hour’s  walk  to  the  south-east  of  the 
village  brings  you  to  the  ancient  quarries,  where  is  another 
colossal  block,  probably  intended  to  be  built,  like  the 
other  huge  masses,  into  the  outer  wall  of  the  Acropolis. 
The  only  thing  I  have  seen  to  be  compared  with  it  is  the 
vast  obelisk  in  the  quarries  of  Assouan,  lying  just  as  its 
hewers  and  polishers  left  it,  unfinished,  thousands  of  years 
ago.  The  Baalbek  stone  is  seventy- one  feet  long,  four¬ 
teen  feet  high,  and  thirteen  feet  wide,  with  a  weight  of 
about  1,500  tons.  The  rock  above  and  around  it  has 
been  cut  away,  so  that  it  stands  in  a  wide,  open  space — • 
a  broad  level  yard,  in  which  you  wander  round  it  at  your 
will.  The  huge  mass  has  never  been  quite  detached  from 
the  parent  rock  below.  It  lies  in  an  inclined  position, 
one  end  considerably  higher  than  the  other;  and  it  will 
lie,  till  the  general  conflagration,  unless  broken  up  by  the 
manikins  of  these  later  ages,  for  who,  now,  could  think  of 
moving  it  ? 

Wishing  to  take  a  short  cut  back  to  the  hotel,  I 
clambered  to  the  top  of  the  quarry,  and  went  through 
the  field  thus  reached.  It  was  exactly  like  walking  over 
a  shingle  beach.  Not  a  particle  of  soil  was  visible  :  only 
deep  beds  of  rounded  stones,  in  which  your  feet  sank. 
Out  of  these,  to  my  astonishment,  were  growing  stumps  of 
vines,  regularly  planted  over  the  whole  surface.  It  was 
impossible  not  to  laugh,  for  the  stones  had  been  carefully 
ploughed,  and  there  was  no  question  as  to  the  presence 
of  the  vines.  The  teacher  of  the  American  Mission 
school,  who  was  with  me,  supplied  the  much-needed 
explanation.  There  was  good  soil  below  the  stones, 
and  the  vines  struck  down  to  that,  and  thus  flourished 
in  this  sea  of  shingle.  In  this  world  things  are  not 


446 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


always  what  they  seem  !  A  short  walk  to  the  village, 
with  a  line  of  telegraph  posts  for  company,  and  I 
was  once  more  at  the  hotel.  The  posts  ran  past  the 
great  ruins !  This,  however,  was  only  one  illustration 
of  the  confusion  of  new  and  old  in  such  a  place.  In 
the  sitting-room,  the  stove  bore  the  name  of  a  Glasgow 
firm  ;  the  cane-cliairs,  of  bent  wood,  were  from  Yienna ; 
the  marble  top  of  the  table  was  from  Italy ;  the 
carpets  from  Persia;  the  curtains  from  England;  the 
lamps  from  Germany  ;  and  the  covering  of  the  sofa,  or 
divan,  along  the  wall,  was  from  Damascus.  Nor  was  the 
modern  world  represented  only  by  furniture  and  the  tele¬ 
graph.  The  American  Mission  school,  taught  by  a  Syrian, 
educated  at  the  American  College  at  Beirout,  had  thirty 
children,  and  in  winter  has  fifty ;  the  Roman  Catholic 
school  had  about  seventy  boys  and  fifty  or  sixty  girls ;  and 
a  school  of  the  British  Syrian  School  Society,  taught  by  a 
dear  bright  old  lady,  had  150  children  of  all  ages — many 
of  them  Mahommedan  girls.  Women,  the  mistress  told 
me,  came  to  learn  to  sew  and  cut  out ;  some,  also,  to  the 
Bible  class  and  to  prayers.  A  Bible-woman  reads  in 
their  houses  among  them,  and,  as  I  wTell  believe,  “  does 
real  good,  though  she  never  gets  any  of  them  to  become 
Christians.” 

These  wondrous  temples  of  Baalbek  raise  strange 
thoughts.  Built,  as  we  have  seen,  in  the  second  half 
of  the  second  century  after  our  Lord’s  birth — that  is, 
after  from  a  hundred  to  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  of  apos¬ 
tolic  and  missionary  effort  —  they  show  that  heathenism 
was  then  still  so  triumphant  within  two  hundred  miles 
of  Jerusalem,  and  within  one  hundred  miles  of  Christ’s 
own  city,  Capernaum,  as  to  be  able  to  raise  temples 
of  such  magnificence  that  their  ruins  even  now  ex¬ 
cite  the  astonishment  of  the  world.  The  lavish  wealth 


LI.]  BAALBEK  AND  THE  CEDARS  OF  LEBANON.  447 

expended  on  local  temples  in  a  spot  of  tlie  empire  prac¬ 
tically  as  far  from  its  centre,  Borne,  as  Canada  is  from 
London,  excites  amazement.  How  rich  must  the  country 
around  have  been,  to  furnish  means  for  such  outlay  ;  how 
unspeakably  different  from  its  present  condition  of  ex¬ 
haustion  and  decay  !  How  slow,  on  the  other  hand,  must 
have  been  the  spread  of  Christianity,  even  in  its  native 
district,  when  public  opinion  remained  so  uninfluenced  by 
it  after  a  considerable  time,  measured  by  generations, 
as  to  raise  these  mighty  fanes  in  honour  of  the  ancient 
gods,  whom  the  new  faith  came  to  supersede !  To 
expect  a  rapid  conversion  of  heathen  countries  now,  is 
clearly  unreasonable.  The  spread  of  leaven,  to  which  our 
Lord  compared  His  doctrine,  is  quiet  and  gradual.  A 
change  in  the  hereditary  creed  of  a  nation  can  only  be 
brought  about  by  slow  and  unperceived  degrees,  like  the 
silent  progress  of  the  shadow  on  the  dial,  from  dawn  to 
distant  noon. 

There  is,  however,  still  another  thought.  The  Temple 
of  the  Sun,  as  we  have  seen,  was  never  finished.  The 
rough,  uncarved  tops  of  the  niches  in  the  walls  show  this 
conclusively.  Baalbek  was,  therefore,  the  last  sunset  glory 
of  an  expiring  faith,  which  could  plan,  and  in  great  part 
carry  out,  the  magnificent  tribute  to  its  divinities  which 
these  sculptured  stone  -  wonders  still  show.  But  its 
strength  failed  before  this  last  and  grandest  effort  was 
completed,  and  left  a  monument  to  the  past,  rather  than  a 
gift  to  the  future.  Christianity  was  gaining  ground  while 
the  old  religion  was  slowly  dying,  and  thus  Baalbek  be¬ 
came  only  a  grand  memento  of  that  which  was  soon  to 
pass  away, 

Baalbek  stands  nearly  4,000  feet  above  the  sea,  but  it 
is  a  long  and  weary  climb  of  nine  hours  to  what  remains 
of  the  great  cedar-wood  which  once  clothed  the  upper 


448 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


slopes  of  Lebanon.  It  lies  slightly  to  the  north-west, 
across  the  Bekaa,  which,  at  Baalbek,  forms  the  water¬ 
shed  between  the  head- waters  of  the  Litany  flowing  to 
the  south-west,  and  the  Orontes  making  its  way  to  the 
north-east.  Biblah,  where  Nebuchadnezzar  had  his  head¬ 
quarters  during  the  campaign  against  Jerusalem,  is  in 
this  upper  valley,  on  the  Orontes,  about  forty  miles  beyond 
Baalbek:  the  armies  of  Assyria  and  Babylon  coming  down 
from  the  north 1  by  this  route.  To  this  place  were  brought 
Zedekiah,  King  of  Judaea,  and  his  sons,  and  afterwards 
some  of  the  most  important  prisoners  ;  the  king  to  be 
blinded ;  the  others  to  be  put  to  death,  probably  by  im¬ 
paling,  which  is  the  usual  form  of  punishment  seen  on  the 
Assyrian  monuments,  though  flaying  alive  is  sometimes  to 
be  noticed.2  Here  also  Pharaoh  Necho  waited,  after  his 
victory  over  the  Babylonians  at  Carchemish,  and  from  this 
point  he  summoned  Jehoahaz  to  his  presence,  from  Jeru¬ 
salem.3  Biblah  was  almost  the  farthest  northern  limit  of 
David’s  empire,  during  the  short  time  of  Jewish  great¬ 
ness  ; 4  Lake  Hums,  near  which  stood  Kadesh,  the  sacred 
city  of  Hamath,  and  once  the  capital  of  the  Hittites,  being 
only  ten  or  twelve  miles  north  of  it.5  Hamath  seems  to 
have  continued  subject  to  Solomon,6  who  built  “  store 
cities  ”  in  it,  but  after  his  death  it  appears  to  have  re¬ 
gained  its  independence.  Jeroboam  II.,  indeed,  “  recovered” 
the  district  of  “  Hamath,”  7  but  he  apparently  destroyed 
the  capital,  as  Amos  speaks  of  it  as  lying  desolate.8 

1  Isa.  xiv.  31 ;  xli.  28 ;  Jer.  iv.  6  ;  yi.  22  ;  x.  22  ;  1.  9,  41 ;  li.  48. 

2  Jer.  xxxix.  5,  6 ;  lii.  9,  10,  26,  27 ;  2  Kings  xxv.  6,  20,  21. 

3  2  Kings  xxiii.  33. 

4  2  Sara.  viii.  10. 

6  Respecting  Kadesli  on  the  Orontes,  see  Palestine  Fund  Reports,  1881 . 
pp.  163,  218  ;  1882,  p.  253. 

6  1  Kings  iv.  21 — 24;  2  Chron.  viii.  4. 

7  2  Kings  xiv.  28.  8  Amos  vi.  2. 


LI.]  BAALBEK  AND  THE  CEDARS  OF  LEBANON. 


449 


After  crossing  the  plain,  the  path  from  Baalbek  to  the 
cedars  leads  over  the  sides  of  the  mountains ;  heights 
and  valleys  succeed  each  other,  with  little  to  notice 
except  the  roughness  of  the  road  and  the  magnificence  of 
the  view.  The  village  of  Ainita,  or  “  Spring-town,”  lies 
in  a  gap  on  the  hills;  and,  to  justify  its  name,  some 
streams  flow  past,  from  the  melted  snows  of  the  upper 
heights.  Though  5,000  feet  above  the  sea,  it  is  shel¬ 
tered  from  the  cold  by  high  walls  of  mountain,  hut  there 
is  nothing  attractive  about  it.  Dwarf  oaks  and  moun¬ 
tain  junipers  are,  indeed,  almost  the  only  growth  that  one 
sees  on  the  way  to  it,  or  in  its  neighbourhood.  From 
this  point  the  road  is  much  steeper,  with  less  vegetation, 
and  leads  over  what  is  the  snow-bed  in  winter,  though 
goats  feed  here  when  the  first  patches  of  ground  are  left 
hare  of  the  melted  snow.  From  the  top  of  Jebel  Makmel, 
about  8', 500  feet  above  the  sea,  the  most  glorious  view 
presents  itself :  on  the  south,  Mount  Hermon,  rising  in 
snow-capped  grandeur,  with  mountains  hardly  lower  sur¬ 
rounding  it  on  every  side ;  a  little  to  the  north,  the 
highest  summit  of  Lebanon,  over  10,000  feet  above  the 
Mediterranean,  lifts  its  awful  head,  the  picture  of  sub¬ 
limity.  Far  below,  to  the  south,  the  great  valley  of  Ccele- 
Syria,  the  Bekaa,  stretches  out  in  rich  green — a  plain 
worthy  of  the  grandeur  of  the  mountains  which  enclose 
it  on  both  sides. 

From  this  point  begins  the  descent  to  the  cedars. 
Viewed  from  Jebel  Makmel,  they  seem  only  a  speck 
of  green,  beyond  the  beds  of  snow  lying  on  the  way  to 
them:  2,500  feet  of  winding  paths,  down  the  slopes  of 
the  giant  hills,  must  be  descended  before  the  shoulder 
of  Lebanon,  0,300  feet  above  the  sea,  on  which  they 
grow,  is  reached.  The  ground  which  they  cover,  though 
varying  in  its  slope,  is  the  top  of  a  height  of  white 
d  d 


450 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


limestone,  on  which  the  decaying  cones  and  fronds  have 
formed  a  dark-coloured  soil.  The  oldest  trees  are  about 
nine  in  number,  and  the  whole  grove  includes  about 
350  cedars,  large  and  small.  Unfortunately,  however, 
no  care  is  taken  of  them,  goats  being  allowed  to  eat  the 
young  shoots,  and  monks  and  visitors  alike  using  their 
branches  for  fuel.  A  Maronite  chapel  stands  among 
them,  and  a  festival  which  is  held  yearly  helps  greatly 
in  the  destruction,  many  fires  being  then  kindled.  Of 
course  there  are  countless  names  cut  in  the  bark — as  if  any 
one  were  the  better  for  such  vandalism !  The  oldest  trees 
are  of  great  age,  one  of  them  being  forty  feet  in  circum¬ 
ference,  but  even  to  it  no  respect  is  paid,  branches  being 
ruthlessly  broken  off  when  wanted  for  any  purpose,  how¬ 
ever  trifling. 

The  Jews  used  cedar  very  largely  for  their  grander 
buildings,  and  it  was  in  no  less  demand  among  other 
nations,  so  that  it  is  a  wonder  that  the  forests  which  must 
once  have  clothed  the  slopes  of  a  vast  district  have  now 
any  surviving  representatives  at  all.  In  the  Assyrian  re¬ 
cords  we  frequently  read  of  great  quantities  of  this  valued 
timber  being  carried  away  to  the  Euphrates,  and  when  we 
add  the  home  consumption  by  the  Phoenicians,  and  their 
vast  exports  to  many  countries,  the  number  of  trees  de¬ 
stroyed  must  have  been  enormous.  In  Bible  times  the 
forests  were  the  ideal  of  sylvan  grandeur,  for  there  is  no 
other  tree  in  Palestine  to  be  compared  to  the  cedar  for  size. 
It  was  natural,  therefore,  for  Ezekiel  to  picture  the  Assy¬ 
rian,  so  dreaded  in  his  day,  as  “  a  cedar  in  Lebanon,  with 
fair  branches,  and  with  a  shadoiving  shroud,  and  of  an 
high  stature,  and  his  top  among  the  thick  clouds.1  The 
waters  made  him  great,  the  deep  nourished  him,  with  her 
rivers  running  round  about  his  plantation,  and  sent  out 


1  Correct  translation. 


LI.]  BAALBEK  AND  THE  CEDARS  OF  LEBANON.  451 

lier  little  rivers  unto  all  the  trees  of  the  field.  Therefore 
his  height  was  exalted  above  all  the  trees  of  the  field,  and 
his  houghs  were  multiplied,  and  his  branches  became  long, 
because  of  the  multitude  of  waters,  when  he  shot  forth. 
All  the  fowls  of  heaven  made  their  nests  in  his  boughs, 
and  under  his  branches  did  all  the  beasts  of  the  field 
bring  forth  their  young.”  1 

From  Baalbek  back  to  Shtora  we  travelled  in  the  toy 
omnibus  in  which  we  had  come,  starting  at  five  in  the 
morning,  so  as  to  catch  the  diligence  on  its  way  to  Beirout. 
The  villages  on  the  road  strengthened  my  conviction  that 
the  people  of  Palestine,  like  those  of  Syria,  have  a  veritable 
dread  of  water,  especially  if  soap  be  along  with  it — in 
fact,  that  they  labour  under  a  universal  hydrophobia. 
They  seem  never  to  clean  themselves.  The  waiter  at  the 
hotel  had  such  filthy  hands  that  I  told  him  I  would  not 
eat  if  he  did  not  wash  them;  and  the  rest  of  the  community 
were  no  better.  The  schoolmistress  told  me  she  had  an 
unpleasant  time  of  it  in  this  respect.  It  rained  a  good  part 
of  the  way,  and  the  people  looked  wretched  in  their  thin 
clothes,  under  the  drizzling  showers.  Quantities  of  yellow 
lupins,  from  last  year,  showed  where  fields  of  that  legume 
had  been  sown.  Hawks  were  as  numerous  as  elsewhere.  In¬ 
deed,  the  number  of  predatory  birds  in  Palestine  and  Syria 
is  wonderful,  but  as  they  seem  to  be  the  chief  enemies  of 
the  small  birds,  man  taking  little  part  in  this  form  of 
destruction,  there  is  no  scarcity  of  these  charming  crea¬ 
tures.  Vines  abounded,  the  short  stems  bent  from  the 
north,  so  as  to  catch  the  southern  sun,  and  propped  by  a 
short  stick,  to  keep  them  from  the  ground.  Hedges  and 
trees  were  bursting  into  leaf,  for  it  was  the  28tli  of  March. 
The  houses  were  of  stone,  with  flat  roofs,  formed  of  layers 
of  brush  laid  on  rough  cross-beams,  with  a  thick  coating 

1  Ezek.  xxxi.  3 — 6. 


(I  (1  2 


452 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap.  LI. 


of  mud,  the  whole  being  kept  solid  by  frequent  pressure 
of  a  heavy  roller.  Mud  seemed  to  he  used  as  the  cement 
for  the  house- walls.  Very  few  trees,  except  some  poplars 
now  and  then,  were  to  he  seen  on  the  plains  or  the  hills  ; 
hut  orchards  became  numerous  as  we  approached  Shtora, 
while  a  broad  stream  ran  alongside  the  road,  with  side 
channels  at  many  points,  leading  off  the  water  into  runnels 
over  the  fields. 


CHAPTER  LIL 


BEIROUT. 

From  Shtora  to  Beirout  is  precisely  like  the  journey 
from  Damascus  to  Shtora :  a  long  ascent  of  one  side  of  a 
great  mountain-chain,  and  then  a  descent  on  the  other 
side.  The  French  road  is  magnificent,  and  is  kept  in 
splendid  repair.  Hours  of  climbing  steep  heights,  zig¬ 
zagged  to  make  them  easier ;  of  galloping  along  the  table¬ 
land  thus  gained,  and  then  of  climbing  another  ascent, 
filled  the  one  half  of  the  journey,  and  all  this  was  exactly 
reversed  in  the  second  half.  Hear  Shtora,  the  hill-sides 
are  very  generally  terraced ;  flat-roofed  villages  clinging 
to  the  steep  mountains,  often  very  picturesquely.  Long 
trains  of  waggons,  filled  with  goods,  met  us,  toiling  on 
from  Beirout  to  Damascus,  with  four  horses  to  drag  them 
them  up  the  hills.  This  is  a  wonderful  improvement  on 
the  Oriental  system  of  camels,  mules,  and  asses,  laden  as 
heavily  as  they  can  bear,  jogging  on  at  two  miles  an  hour; 
but  that  primitive  mode  is  still  used  even  on  this  line 
of  travel,  for  we  passed  several  long  jingling  processions 
of  these  unfortunate  beasts.  They  seemed,  however,  to 
keep  off  the  French  highway,  as  I  noticed  them  always 
making  their  way,  as  they  best  could,  over  tracks  up  and 
down  the  liill-sides  near  our  road,  but  never  on  it,  thus 
saving  the  tolls.  Ho  country  shows  a  more  striking 
continuity  of  usages  than  Palestine  or  Syria.  The  tent, 
just  as  it  was  in  Abraham’s  day,  is  pitched  in  the 


454 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


open  ground ;  the  horse,  the  mule,  or  the  ass  is  still  the 
only  means  of  travel,  except  one’s  feet,  over  most  of  the 
country.  But  we  have,  in  other  parts,  such  Western  hor¬ 
rors  as  the  toy  omnibus  to  Baalbek,  the  omnibus  from 
Joppa  to  Jerusalem,  and  the  regular  French  diligence  from 
Damascus  to  Beirout.  The  turban  keeps  its  ground,  not¬ 
withstanding  an  invasion  of  billycocks  and  tall  black  hats  ; 
the  world-old  plough,  which  a  man  can  carry  home  on  his 
shoulder,  still  triumphantly  scratches  the  fields,  although 
European  ploughs,  drawn  by  horses,  may  be  seen  turn¬ 
ing  furrows  on  the  German  settlements  in  the  Plain  of 
Sharon. 

The  country,  as  it  slopes  towards  Beirout,  is  beautiful. 
After  being  almost  amid  the  snow  on  the  mountain-tops, 
you  gradually  find  yourself  descending  towards  comfort¬ 
able  villages,  wide  orchards,  vineyards,  and  broad  pastures, 
covered  by  great  herds  of  cattle  and  flocks  of  sheep  and 
goats.  Streams  rush  down  from  the  hills  at  many  places, 
on  their  noisy  way  to  the  valley,  often  far  below.  At  the 
highest  point  of  the  journey,  where  the  horizon  is  widest, 
the  scene  was  magnificent.  Hermon  and  its  satellites 
rose  to  the  south-east,  bearing  up  the  heavens,  all  their 
summits  covered,  low  down,  with  dazzling  white.  Far 
beneath  us,  beyond  the  multitudinous  hills  that  sank  in 
giant  steps  to  the  lower  levels,  were  green  plains,  with  a 
silver  river  winding  through  them.  To  the  north,  snow- 
covered  peaks  rivalled  the  grandeur  of  those  of  Hermon  in 
the  south. 

The  stations  by  the  roadside  are  used  as  khans,  at 
which  the  drivers  of  freight- mules,  camels,  or  asses  rest 
at  night.  One  of  these  was  very  full,  many  guests  hap¬ 
pening  to  come  at  one  time,  with  the  result,  curious  to 
notice  in  connection  with  the  story  of  our  Saviour’s  birth, 
that  many  of  them  had  to  sleep  with  the  horses,  mules,  or 


LIL] 


BEIROUT. 


455 


oilier  beasts,  tlie  inn  being  full.1  How  is  it  tliat  tbe  four- 
footed  burden-bearers  of  tbe  East  are  so  strong  on  such 
miserable  food  ?  The  loads  they  carry  are  enormous,  yet 
their  only  recompense  is  some  “  teben,”  or  broken  straw, 
with  an  occasional  handful  of  barley.  Nevertheless,  they 
are  not  particularly  thin.  Perhaps  the  chance  meals  in 
rare  grassy  parts  help  to  make  them  strong,  or  at  least 
to  give  them  a  better  look.  The  cattle,  however,  that  are 
left  to  graze  on  whatever  the  hills  afford,  are  in  most  places 
very  wretched;  nor  does  their  condition  improve  when  the 
hot  sun  has  withered  the  pastures,  and  they  are  left  to 
draw  sustenance  from  the  universal  “  teben.”  That  it  was 
the  same  in  Bible  times  is  shown  from  the  prophet’s 
poetical  anticipation  of  the  Messianic  Kingdom,  as  marked 
by  the  lion  eating  “  teben”  like  the  ox.2 

It  was  intensely  interesting  to  watch  the  change  of 
scenery  as  the  diligence  trundled  or  galloped  on.  The 
broad  valle}"  of  the  Bekaa  and  the  snowy  glory  of  Her- 
mon  after  a  time  gave  place  to  waste  mountain  preci¬ 
pices,  profound  gorges,  glens,  and  clefts,  which  brought 
to  mind  the  description,  possibly  of  the  same  route,  by 
the  Egyptian  “  Mohar,”  thousands  of  years  ago,  when  his 
chariot  was  broken  to  pieces  in  crossing  the  Lebanon 
chain.  At  last,  a  turn  of  the  road  gave  us  a  glimpse  of 
the  sea  and  of  Beirout.  From  this  point  the  road  wound 
for  some  distance  along  a  ledge  cut  for  it  high  up  on  a 
mountain-ridge  south  of  a  mighty  valley,  into  which  it  was 
half  alarming,  and  quite  entrancing,  to  look  down.  The 
north  wall  of  the  hills  beyond  rose,  precipitously,  to  the 
snow-level,  and  above  it.  Numerous  villages  dotted  the 
broad  hollow  below,  or  clung  to  the  slopes,  which  were 
mantled  with  dark  pine-woods,  now  seen  by  us  for  the 
first  time  in  Syria.  Pasture  and  grain  fields  enamelled  the 

2  Isa.  xi.  7. 


i  Luke  ii.  7. 


456 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


floor  of  the  valley,  through  which  wended  a  broad  river. 
Thousands  of  mulberry-trees,  all  kept  to  a  moderate 
height,  but  very  leafy,  showed  that  we  had  come  into  the 
region  of  the  renowned  silk  industry  of  Lebanon.  Even 
here  fanaticism  raged  in  the  great  outbreak  of  1860,  which 
is  still  the  most  interesting  subject  of  conversation  in 
these  parts.  Whole  villages  were  destroyed,  after  their 
populations  had  been  hewn  down  or  driven  out.  The 
lower  we  came  from  the  hills  the  more  lovely  was  the 
prospect,  the  sea  stretching  before  us,  with  Beirout  at  its 
edge.  The  slopes  beside  the  villages  were  carefully 
terraced,  and  sown  with  wheat  and  tobacco,  or  planted 
with  vines,  figs,  or  mulberry-trees. 

Beirout  stands  on  the  north-west  point  of  a  broad,  hilly 
cape,  rising  in  a  long  bank  over  pleasant  hollows  and 
broad  plains,  all  seeming  to  be  one  great  wood,  here  of  dark 
pines,  yonder  of  bright  green  mulberry-trees ;  hundreds  of 
lofty  palms  rising,  from  point  to  point,  above  the  sea  of 
verdure ;  the  whole  making  a  picture  even  more  beautiful 
than  the  palm-groves  of  Egypt.  The  road,  as  we  reached 
the  level  by  which  the  town  is  approached,  became  at  last 
alive  with  pedestrians,  male  and  female,  in  picturesque 
dresses ;  riders  on  horses,  asses,  and  mules ;  trains  of 
camels,  with  their  heads  high  in  the  air,  and  huge  loads 
on  their  humps ;  gigs,  carts,  waggons,  and  carriages,  some 
with  liveried  drivers.  Many  coffee-houses,  in  thoroughly 
Eastern  style,  invited  the  wayfarer ;  others  had  their 
Oriental  features  set  off  by  a  strange  intermingling  of 
Western  innovations — pompous  names  for  the  establish¬ 
ment,  among  the  rest.  I  was  glad,  however,  when  I  at 
last  found  myself  in  the  “  Hotel  de  TOrient,”  a  fine  house 
by  the  seashore,  where  every  comfort  was  supplied  at  the 
modest  charge  of  ten  francs  a  day,  a  third  less  than  if  I 
had  had  tourist  coupons.  The  large  dining-room  was 


LIL] 


BEIROUT. 


457 


paved  with  marble ;  the  windows  looked  out  on  the  sea 
and  the  mountains  north  of  the  town,  a  view  indescribably 
beautiful;  the  bedrooms  were  delightfully  clean  and  com¬ 
fortable. 

Beirout  does  not  seem  to  be  mentioned  in  the  Bible, 
for  the  Berothai  of  which  we  read 1  is  not  generally  believed 
to  be  identical  with  it,  though  some  have  thought  it  is. 
The  name  may  have  come  from  the  numerous  “  Beerotli,” 
or  wells,  of  the  neighbourhood,  but  this  also  is  only  a 
conjecture.  The  town  had  not,  like  Tyre  and  Sidon,  a 
great  name  in  remote  antiquity,  but  comes  gloomily  enough 
into  notice  under  Herod  Agrippa,  who,  besides  building 
baths  and  theatres  in  it,  sought  to  please  the  populace  by 
giving  an  exhibition  of  gladiators,  with  their  cruel  combats. 
Here  also,  as  at  Csesarea  Philippi,  Titus  made  bands  of 
Jewish  prisoners,  after  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  engage  in 
mortal  strife  with  each  other,  to  grace  a  holiday.  Silk  has 
long  been  a  special  local  industry,  the  Byzantines  being 
supplied  with  it  from  Beirout  and  Tyre.  Hence  the 
great  plantations  of  mulberries  and  the  skilful  cultivation 
of  the  silkworm  are  a  feature  of  the  district  reaching  back 
for  many  ages,  though  of  late  years  greatly  developed  be¬ 
yond  its  condition  in  the  last  century.  The  Crusaders 
once  held  Beirout,  as  they  did  the  whole  land  south,  as  far 
as  Gaza,  until  the  disastrous  battle  of  Hattin  forced  them 
to  yield  it  to  the  Saracen. 

The  town  slopes  gently  upwards  from  the  narrow 
beach,  but  in  itself  has  no  special  attractions  Nature, 
however,  more  than  makes  amends.  The  wonderful  moun¬ 
tains  which  shut  it  in  at  a  distance,  on  every  side,  and 
the  great  azure  ocean,  between  them,  give  it  charms  that 
never  fail  to  please.  In  summer  the  richer  inhabitants 
betake  themselves  to  the  hills,  but  in  spring  the  climate  is 

1  2  Sam.  viii.  8;  Ezek.  xlvii.  16. 


458 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


delightful.  Indeed,  even  in  winter,  when  there  is  much 
rain,  flowers  of  all  kinds  flourish  abundantly.  It  is  no 
longer  possible  for  the  population  to  speak  with  their 
enemies  in  the  gate,1  for  the  town  walls  and  gates  have 
disappeared,  except  a  few  useless  fragments.  Such  a 
change  marks  the  advance  of  civilisation,  for  gates  imply 
danger  of  attack :  the  want  of  them  speaks  of  peace. 
It  is  curious  to  see  how  even  the  New  Testament  imagery 
of  heaven  is  coloured  by  their  indispensable  association 
with  an  ancient  city,  for  the  New  Jerusalem  has  twelve 
gates,  though,  as  becomes  the  reign  of  celestial  peace,  they 
are  not  “  shut  at  all  by  day,”  which  lasts  unbroken,  “  for 
there  shall  be  no  night  there.”2  If  “  Revelation”  were  to 
be  written  now,  the  imagery  would  necessarily  be  different, 
for  in  civilised  regions  a  city  with  gates  is  happily  rare. 
Even  so  far  back  as  Jacob’s  day,  however,  heaven  could 
not  be  imagined  as  entered  except  through  a  “gate;”3 
but  in  these  later  ages,  thank  God,  we  can  think  of  it 
differently. 

The  streets  of  Beirout  are  almost  European,  though 
Oriental  characteristics  are  not  wanting,  for  there  are  some 
narrow  bazaars  through  which  it  is  not  easy  to  wind  one’s 
self  amidst  the  throng.  Others  are  broad,  with  Western 
shops,  but  there  are  filthy  caravanserais  as  well  as  elegant 
hotels.  Barbers  shave  their  patrons  in  the  open  air, 
but  there  are  others  of  the  profession  who  follow  it  in  the 
seclusion  of  shops,  on  the  walls  of  which  all  kinds  of 
European  advertisements  may  be  read.  One  establish¬ 
ment,  indeed,  boasted  in  a  tablet  that  “  its  proprietor  has 
cut  the  hair  of  princes  ”  !  In  the  streets,  the  confusion  of 
tongues  makes  a  miniature  Babel,  every  native  of  any 
position  speaking  several  languages. 

It  would  have  been  unpardonable  to  leave  the  East 
1  Po.  cxxvii.  5.  2  Rev.  xxi.  12,  25.  3  Gen.  xxviii.  17. 


LIL] 


BEIROTJT. 


459 


without  taking  a  Turkish  bath.  I  therefore  went  to  one 
which  seemed  the  best  in  the  town.  The  entry  was 
through  a  filthy  passage,  which  led  to  a  large  dome-shaped 
room,  with  a  fountain  in  the  middle,  and  a  dais  or  plat¬ 
form  up  three  high  steps  at  one  end.  The  floor  and  steps 
were  marble,  which  was  once  in  better  condition  than  at 
present.  A  table  on  the  dais  was  the  receipt  of  custom, 
where  the  money  -  taker  lightened  your  pocket  of  the 
fee  for  your  ablutions.  A  seat  ran  along  the  back,  and 
upon  this  you  undressed,  substituting  towels  for  clothes ; 
then,  mounted  on  pattens,  at  the  risk  of  a  disaster,  you 
scrambled  down  the  steps,  and  across  to  a  very  shabby 
door.  Inside  this,  the  air  was  equatorial,  or  even  hotter. 
There  was  a  polygonal  marble  ottoman  in  the  centre, 
heated  from  below,  and  on  this  I  was  instructed  to  sit, 
or  lie  back,  on  a  pillow,  and  await  perspiration.  To  aid 
this  beneficial  result,  cold  water  was  proffered  me,  and  I 
made  away  with  two  tumblerfuls.  After  a  time,  a  scraggy, 
chocolate  -  coloured  personage,  grizzled,  lean  -  faced,  and 
dressed  in  a  towel,  proceeded  to  crack  my  joints,  knead 
and  twist  my  muscles,  and  lift  me  by  my  armpits,  which 
must  have  been  a  hard  job,  considering  our  difference  in 
weight.  Finally,  this  tormentor  left  me,  but  not  until  I 
had  been  under  his  hands  long  enough  to  study  every 
feature  of  the  roof,  which  in  the  centre  was  lighted  by 
an  army  of  bull’s-eyes,  far  from  clean,  with  a  delightfully 
clouded  surrounding  of  plaster,  which  had  not  seen  white¬ 
wash  in  the  memory  of  the  oldest  inhabitant;  the  walls 
around  being  in  excellent  keeping  with  it. 

The  next  step  was  to  waddle  on  my  pattens  to  a  small 
marble-floored  recess,  the  walls  of  which  were  in  a  very 
poor  way,  while  there  were  two  or  three  holes  in  the  pave¬ 
ment.  A  second  tormentor  now  appeared,  and  made  me 
sit  down  on  a  block  of  wood  on  the  wet,  warm  floor,  beside 


460 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


a  large  marble  clam-shell,  into  which  water  fell,  when 
permitted,  from  a  tap  which  was  stopped  by  a  rag  in  the 
nozzle.  I  was  now  left  for  a  time  to  myself,  with  no 
better  occupation  than  to  watch  and  keep  clear  of  stray 
blackbeetles,  which  emerged  on  all  sides  from  chinks  in 
the  wall. 

The  grizzled  anatomy  now  reappeared,  dressed  in  his 
towel.  The  block  of  wood  was  discarded,  and  I  was  laid 
down  on  the  floor.  Sundry  small  bowlfuls  of  hot  water 
were  then  thrown  over  me,  and  next  came  a  smart 
currying  from  head  to  foot  with  rough  towels  ;  sousings 
with  new  supplies  of  hot  water  varying  the  process.  All 
this  being  over,  while  I  still  sat  or  lay  on  the  floor,  the 
anatomy  left  me  for  a  moment,  to  return  with  a  large 
barber’s  basin,  in  which  were  three  pieces  of  brown  soap 
and  a  pad  of  rough  camels’-hair.  Having  made  a  strong 
lather,  my  hair  was  filled  with  it,  and  then  rubbed  by 
the  attendant’s  hands  and  jiad  till  I  feared  permanent 
baldness.  To  add  to  the  pleasure,  I  was  all  this  while,  of 
course,  in  total  darkness ;  my  eyes  firmly  shut,  to  escape 
the  cataract  of  suds  pouring  from  above.  My  body  then 
shared  the  same  fate,  as  I  lay,  now  on  this,  then  on  that 
side ;  the  pad  doing  its  best  with  every  inch  of  epidermis 
in  turn.  At  last,  the  scrubbing  was  over.  The  scraggy 
figure  rose,  stepped  back,  and  retired,  upon  which  I,  also, 
rose. 

But  the  cleaning  down  was  yet  to  come  off.  The 
figure  that  had  led  me  to  the  recess  now  returned,  to  re¬ 
conduct  me  from  it,  after  my  purification.  Taking  the 
soap  from  the  huge  bowl,  he  emptied  the  suds  over  me, 
and  then  soused  me  with  laver  after  laver  of  hot  water, 
till  he  was  tired.  A  towel  was  now  put  round  my  head, 
two  round  my  loins,  and  three  round  my  chest  and 
shoulders,  and  I  was  led  back  with  painful  steps  to  the 


LII.] 


BEIROUT. 


461 


dais  from  which  I  had  at  first  descended,  to  dry  by  evapo¬ 
ration.  This  effected,  I  could  once  more  don  my  clothes. 
The  whole  operation  had  taken  over  an  hour.  The  charge 
was  two  francs :  little  enough,  in  all  conscience.  Going 
out,  I  took  the  wrong  door,  and  found  a  crowd  of  native 
women  entering  at  their  side  of  the  establishment,  some 
with  babies.  To  them,  I  am  happy  to  say,  the  fee  is  only 
half  a  franc,  or  even  less.  It  was  pleasant  to  see  that 
hatred  of  water  was  not  universal. 

The  American  Presbyterian  Missions  at  Beirout  have 
a  world- wide  fame.  Begun  more  than  fifty  years  ago,  by 
men  who  now  sleep  in  the  quiet  churchyard  in  the  centre 
of  their  field  of  work,  they  have  been  quietly  and  efficiently 
continued,  till  Beirout  has  become  a  light  to  widely  dis¬ 
tant  regions.  Feeling  that  education,  in  the  truest  sense 
religious,  from  its  resting  on  the  knowledge  of  the  Scrip¬ 
tures,  was  essential  to  any  permanent  results,  they  early 
began  to  use  the  printing-press  to  supply  Arabic  school 
books,  and  also  to  disseminate  Christian  knowledge.  Year 
by  year  their  primers,  geographies,  and  other  elementary 
school  books  of  all  kinds,  have  spread  more  widely,  until 
they  are  now  used  in  all  missionary  schools  wherever 
Arabic  is  spoken.  I  met  with  them  at  the  cataracts  of 
the  Nile  ;  and,  as  I  have  already  said,  they  are  conned 
by  dusky  scholars  on  the  Euphrates,  and  you  find  them 
at  the  Pillars  of  Hercules.  Gradually,  moreover,  an 
Arabic  Christian  periodical  literature  has  spruug  up. 
The  Leaflet ,  a  weekly  illustrated  paper  of  four  square 
pages,  costing  four  shillings  a  year,  circulates  to  the  ex¬ 
tent  of  800  copies,  while  The  Morning  Star ,  a  child’s 
paper,  illustrated,  and  published  monthly,  at  fourpence 
a  year  for  the  twelve  numbers,  has  a  sale  of  4,000 
copies;  every  missionary  school  in  Syria,  Palestine,  and 
Egypt  taking  some.  That  they  can  be  sold  so  cheaply  is 


462 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


clue  to  the  assistance  of  the  London  Religious  Tract 
Society,  which  thus  does  good  work  where  one  might  not 
suspect  its  presence.  There  are,  besides,  text-hooks  in 
Arabic,  for  students  at  the  Missionary  College ;  but  the 
greatest  triumph  is  the  Arabic  Bible,  translated  by  one  of 
the  missionaries,  and  used,  far  and  near,  through  the 
Arabic-speaking  world. 

The  College  is  a  fine  building,  a  little  way  out  of 
Beirout,  standing  in  its  own  grounds.  There  is  also  a 
Medical  School,  the  aggregate  number  of  students  being, 
if  I  remember  rightly,  about  200  in  the  two  establish¬ 
ments.  Dr.  Bliss,  the  president  of  the  College,  gets  £400 
a  year,  without  a  house,  rent  costing  him  £55;  Dr.  Post, 
the  president  of  the  Medical  School,  gets  £300  a  year, 
without  a  house,  and  no  allowance  for  children,  though 
he  has  liberty  to  practise  as  a  physician,  if  his  profession 
do  not  interfere  with  College  duties.  He  has  a  hospital 
under  his  charge,  a  very  fine  institution,  open  to  all  creeds 
and  nationalities.  As  a  rule,  I  was  informed,  missionaries 
do  not  know  their  salaries  till  they  are  on  the  ground, 
remuneration  being  treated  as  altogether  a  secondary  con¬ 
sideration,  since  they  come  for  the  sake  of  their  Master, 
not  of  the  pay.  “If  they  were  men  of  the  world,5’  said 
President  Bliss,  “  they  might  think  about  salary ;  as 
Christian  soldiers,  they  are  not  on  the  same  footing.” 
Only  the  very  best  men  are  accepted  for  the  Missions,  a 
thing  possible  from  the  high  ideal  of  missionary  work 
kept  before  the  mind  of  candidates.  The  salaries  may 
be  judged  from  examples.  At  Tripoli,  the  missionary,  a 
married  man,  gets  £185  sterling,1  with  his  house-rent, 
£46,  and  £20  a  year  for  each  child  till  it  is  eighteen.  A 
bachelor,  when  he  keeps  house,  gets  one  third  less.  Other 
“  stations  ”  get  about  the  same  salary,  some  of  them  even 
1  £200  (Turkish).  The  Turkish  pound  is  equal  to  18s.  6d. 


LII.] 


BEIROUT 


463 


a  little  less.  At  Beirout  the  remuneration  is  £240  a 
year  and  liouse-rent,  which  varies  from  £50  to  £90  a  year, 
rents  being  very  high,  and  houses  hard  to  obtain.  Children 
here,  also,  get  £20  a  year  up  to  the  age  of  eighteen ; 
and  medical  expenses,  and  costs  of  itinerancy — undertaken 
for  the  Missions — are  allowed  in  all  “  stations,”  as  also 
postage,  for  Mission  purposes.  The  rent  in  Beirout,  I 
may  say,  includes  that  of  a  house  in  the  mountains  in 
summer,  when  the  town  is  dangerous  to  the  health  of 
Europeans.  Till  lately  the  highest  allowance  for  rent  left 
the  missionary,  in  some  cases,  nearly  £20  out  of  pocket. 

The  results  of  a  carefully  systematic  missionary  system 
are  very  encouraging.  An  Arabic-speaking  congregation 
of  from  450  to  500  meets  every  Sunday  in  its  own  church, 
and  there  is  a  Sunday-school  of  350  young  people,  all 
of  them  taught  in  Arabic  by  native  teachers.  The  con¬ 
gregation  were  originally  members  of  the  Greek  Church, 
Maronites,  Druses,  and  Bom  an  Catholics,  while  the 
Sunday-school  children  include  quite  a  number  of  nation¬ 
alities.  At  Damascus,  the  Arabic-speaking  congregation 
numbers  about  125,  and  the  Sunday-school  150,  a  great 
increase  in  the  last  few  years  in  that  most  bigoted  city. 
Work  among  Maliommedans,  as  I  have  said  more  than 
once,  is  next  to  impossible,  for  if  a  man  were  to  turn 
Christian  he  would  have  to  flee.  There  is,  hence,  no 
progress  made  in  gathering  congregations  from  among 
them.  When  I  was  at  the  College  some  young  men,  of 
whom  I  have  already  spoken  as  chosen  to  be  interpreters 
to  the  English  army  in  the  Soudan,  were  on  the  point  of 
starting;  twenty  had  already  gone,  and  twenty  more  were 
to  follow.  This  speaks  highly  for  the  instruction  given. 
The  language  used  in  the  College  is  English,  but  Arabic  is 
thoroughly  taught.  Hitherto  some  teachers  have  known 
only  Arabic,  but  all  will  know  English  also  from  this 


464 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


time  forward.  Candidates  for  tlie  dignity  of  village 
schoolmaster  have  to  spend  three  years  in  the  preparatory 
school  at  the  College,  and  four  years  in  the  College  itself, 
before  being  thought  fit  for  the  office,  though  in  the  more 
simple  village  schools  teachers  are  employed  who  have 
been  trained  in  one  of  the  “  Hmh  Schools  ”  for  three 

o 

years.  The  number  of  village  schools  connected  with  the 
Mission  is  118,  with  5,180  pupils. 

It  certainly  cannot  be  said  of  native  preachers  that 
they  have  “  hands  laid  suddenly  on  them/’ 1  Candidates 
for  the  office  must  first  be  tried  by  actual  practice  at  a 
missionary  station  for  a  year  or  two,  according  to  circum¬ 
stances.  If  recommended  by  the  missionary,  they  are  then 
allowed  to  attend  the  theological  department  of  the  College 
for  three  years.  This  is  the  demand  from  the  humblest 
evangelist.  From  those  who  seek  a  higher  training,  a 
course  of  three  years  in  the  preparatory  school  and  four  in 
the  College,  in  all  the  faculties,  is  required ;  but,  even  then, 
a  graduate  must  go,  after  these  seven  years,  to  a  missionary, 
for  at  least  another  year,  to  see  if  he  has  the  qualities 
needed  in  a  preacher  and  pastor.  One  of  these  students 
was  ordained,  in  1855,  in  Jerusalem,  by  Bishop  Hanning- 
ton,  since  murdered  in  South-eastern  Africa.  The  simplest 
evangelist  must  prove  himself  able  to  lead  a  congregation 
in  prayer,  “  apt  to  teach,”  and  his  life  must  “  become  the 
Gospel.”  Above  all,  every  agent  of  the  Mission,  high  or 
low,  must  give  evidence  that  he  is  absolutely  sincere  in  his 
devotion  to  Christ  and  the  souls  of  men — that  is,  in  the 
current  phraseology,  that  he  is  a  “  converted  ”  man.  The 
salary  paid  to  native  pastors  is  £5  10s.  a  month,  with  £1  a 
month  for  house-rent,  but  this  item  is  not  always  given. 
Native  pastors  must  teach  at  school  through  the  week, 
as  well  as  preach  on  Sundays  and  at  other  times.  Native 

1  1  Tim.  v.  22. 


LIL] 


BEIROUT. 


4G5 


teachers  may  be  licensed  to  preacli,  hut  they  are  not 
ordained,  and  cannot  administer  the  sacraments.  Their 
salary  is  from  thirty  shillings  to  £5  a  month,  with  house  - 
rent  in  some  cases,  in  the  country.  In  cities,  they  get 
from  £5  10s.  to  £6  a  month,  without  house-rent. 

A  number  of  the  graduates  of  the  Medical  School  were 
taken  for  assistant-service  in  the  English  army  in  the 
Soudan  ;  an  army  surgeon  having  been  sent  to  examine 
and  accept  them,  if  they  proved  fit.  Altogether,  the 
Egyptian  war  was  a  fortunate  thing  for  the  young  fellows, 
for  those  taken  as  dragomans  got  £15  a  month;  inter¬ 
preters,  £20  a  month  ;  and  translators,  £25  a  month,  with 
rations  and  travelling  expenses.  Natives,  I  should  add, 
are  never  put  in  independent  charge  of  a  missionary 
station ;  they  are  always  under  white  missionaries.  This 
is  a  fixed  rule,  and  a  very  wise  one. 

“  Zoar,”  the  orphanage  at  Beirout,  is  very  interesting. 
The  house  was  hired  in  1860,  after  the  massacre,  for 
widows,  orphans,  and  the  sick,  hut  it  has  gradually  become 
simply  a  hospital  and  an  orphanage ;  the  former  under 
the  care  of  the  German  Protestant  Knights  of  St.  John, 
who  support  it ;  Protestant  sisters  acting  as  the  nurses. 
The  number  of  orphans  exceeds  130,  but  twice  as  many 
could  he  got,  if  there  were  room  and  money.  There  is 
also  a  hoarding  and  day  school,  hut  in  all  the  establish¬ 
ment  there  are  no  servants,  the  orphans  doing  the  whole  of 
the  work.  There  are  eight  sisters  in  the  orphanage,  eight 
in  the  hoarding  school,  and  five  in  the  hospital.  The  won¬ 
derful  intermixture  of  races  in  Beirout  shows  itself  in  an 
institution  like  this ;  children  of  eighteen  nations  and 
seventeen  different  forms  of  religion  receiving  their  Bible 
lessons  together  in  the  same  school.  There  are  English, 
Scotch,  Americans,  Germans,  Russians,  Austrians,  Swiss, 
Italians,  Spaniards,  Greeks,  Turks,  Syrians,  Bulgarians, 


e  e 


466 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


Egyptians,  Poles,  Dutch,  Hungarians,  and  Danes,  among 
the  girls,  and  they  belong  to  the  following  medley  of 
communions :  Episcopalian,  Presbyterian,  Lutheran,  Cal- 
vinistic,  Zwinglian,  Russian,  Orthodox  Greek,  Romish 
Greek,  Roman  Catholics,  Baptists,  Quakers,  Wesleyans, 
German  Templars,  Maronites,  Jews,  Mahommedans,  and 
sometimes  Druses.  The  good-natured  sister,  however,  told 
me  that  “  there  were  no  quarrels,  unless  the  Greek  girls 
begin  against  the  Quakers  and  such  sects.”  The  build¬ 
ings  are  wonderfully  clean,  and  everything  is  splendidly 
managed.  Besides  these,  there  are  other  missionary 
schools — those  of  Mrs.  Watson,  that  of  Miss  Taylor,  and 
those  of  the  Syrian  School  Society — so  that  another 
generation  must  see  great  results.  The  Roman  Catholics, 
also,  are  very  active,  and  have  great  educational  establish¬ 
ments. 

A  very  pleasant  trip  to  the  Dog  River,  to  see  the 
Assyrian  inscriptions  on  the  rocks  there,  varied  my  stay 
at  Beirout.  A  large  party  assembled  to  make  a  holiday 
of  the  little  journey,  and  very  delightful  it  was.  Passing 
to  the  north,  a  long  row  of  the  humble  work-cells  of  silk- 
weavers  lined  the  street  at  the  edge  of  the  town ;  the 
looms  being  worked  from  the  floor,  in  a  very  primitive 
fashion.  Vast  plantations  of  grafted  mulberry-trees  for 
the  silkworms  stretched  away  on  both  sides  as  soon  as  we 
were  clear  of  the  houses;  none  of  the  trees,  I  was  told, 
were  over  twenty  years  old,  silk- culture  having  greatly 
extended  during  that  time.  Cactus-hedges  and  stone  walls 
alternated  as  fences,  and  water  was  everywhere  abundant. 
The  eggs  of  the  silkworm  are  brought  from  the  islands  of 
the  Mediterranean  at  twenty  shillings  an  ounce,  but  this 
would  not  be  necessary  if  proper  care  were  taken.  The 
people  sit  up  night  and  day  with  the  worms  while  they 
are  growing,  to  give  them  a  constant  supply  of  fresh 


LIL] 


BEIROUT, 


467 


leaves ;  but,  strange  to  say,  with  all  this  watchfulness  over 
the  insect,  the  trees  are  left  without  the  pruning  and  care 
needed  to  make  them  thoroughly  good. 

Three-quarters  of  an  hour’s  ride  brought  us  to  the 
bridge  which  crosses  the  Beirout  river — a  stream  of  con¬ 
siderable  size  in  winter  and  spring,  when  swollen  by  the 
rains  or  melting  snows  from  the  mountains,  and  still  strong 
in  current  when  I  crossed  it.  The  left  side  of  the  road, 
towards  the  bridge,  is  a  sandy  plain,  stretching  back  some 
miles  to  the  hills,  and  well  watered.  Small  white  houses 
dot  it  pleasantly,  with  gardens  and  orchards  round  them, 
supplying  fruit  and  vegetables  to  the  town.  The  men 
who  work  the  ground  live  in  huts  made  of  tall  grass,  laid 
over  a  framework  of  sticks  :  frail  houses,  certainly,  but 
good  enough  in  such  a  climate,  while  the  weather  is  dry. 
Beyond  the  bridge  a  lane  edged  with  prickly  pear  led  to 
the  shore  of  the  bay,  to  reach  which  another  small 
stream  had  to  be  crossed,  after  which  came  a  third 
—the  Dead  Diver — a  little  way  up  the  sands.  The 
track  next  led  to  the  edge  of  the  mountains  which  close 
in  the  Bay  of  Beirout  on  the  north.  We  advanced  round 
a  projecting  headland,  our  course  lying  along  the  remains 
of  a  Roman  road  which  doubles  this  wild  rocky  cape, 
with  a  precipice  on  the  one  side  down  to  the  sea,  while, 
on  the  other,  steep  cliffs  rise  up  to  the  table-land  above. 
The  whole  scene  around  and  under-foot  was  wild  and 
rough,  for  the  great  stones  of  which  the  road  had  been 
made  1,700  years  before  had  apparently  been  left  un¬ 
touched  ever  since,  and  offered  a  honeycomb  of  holes 
and  heights  distressing*  alike  to  the  rider  and  the  horse. 
I  was  very  much  struck  by  the  narrowness  of  the  way, 
which  must  have  been  a  great  trouble  for  an  army ; 
the  breadth  in  many  places  being,  apparently,  only  ten  or 
twelve  feet.  The  rocks  at  the  side  were  everywhere  torn, 
e  e  2 


468 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


as  if  by  successive  convulsions  of  nature ;  but  a  few  small 
ledges  and  patches  of  green  helped  here  and  there  to 
brighten  the  weather-beaten  limestone. 

On  the  laud  side  of  this  old  military  road,  portions  of 
the  rock  have  been  smoothed  into  tablets  by  successive  con¬ 
querors  or  invaders ;  whose  passing  has  been  duly  recorded 
on  them  in  sculptured  characters  by  their  obedient  slaves. 
There  is  a  second  road  a  little  higher  up  the  cliffs,  but 
running  parallel  with  the  lower,  and  some  of  the  inscriptions 
are  on  the  one,  some  on  the  other.  The  first  tablet  in  the 
series  is  a  memorial  left  by  Esarhaddon,  the  third  and  faith¬ 
ful  son  of  Sennacherib,  who  reigned  from  b.c.  681  to  b.c. 
668,  and  marched  along  this  pass  in  the  years  b.c.  672 — 1. 
A  revolt  of  Phoenicia,  a  state  tributary  to  him,  had  broken 
out,  in  aid  of  Tirhakali  the  Ethiopian,  then  reigning  over 
Egypt — the  diplomacy  of  the  Nile  having  succeeded  in 
stirring  up  a  confederacy  of  Palestine  against  Nineveh,  as 
it  did  so  often  in  the  days  of  the  prophets.  Esarhaddon 
was  victorious,  and  not  only  crushed  Tirhakah,  but  crossed 
the  sea  to  Cyprus,  whence  he  returned,  perhaps  to  Tyre, 
and  marched  back  to  the  Euphrates  laden  with  spoil.  The 
tablet  shows  a  full-length  life-size  figure  of  the  victor  in 
his  rojml  robes,  and  records  the  leading  incidents  of  his 
campaign  in  cuneiform  characters.  There  he  stands  in 
rich  embroidery,  his  royal  staff  in  one  hand,  the  other 
on  his  sword — sadly  weathered  by  exposure  for  2,600 
years,  but  still  looking  out  faintly  from  the  stone,  on 
which,  at  each  side  and  underneath,  the  sculptor  has 
recorded  in  strange  arrow-head  combinations  the  glories 
of  his  lord.  Little  more  than  a  foot  from  this  is  a 
square-headed  tablet,  over  six  feet  high,  cut  by  order  of 
Pameses  II.,  the  Pharaoh  of  the  Hebrew  oppression  seven 
centuries  earlier,  as  a  votive  offering  to  Ptha,  the  god 
of  Memphis,  then  in  its  glory,  to  celebrate  the  great 


LIL] 


BEIROUT. 


469 


king’s  triumphant  advance  thus  far  against  his  powerful 
enemies,  the  Hittites.  Esarliaddon,  the  conqueror  of 
Memphis,  had  noted  this,  and  evidently  cut  his  inscription 
at  its  side  in  silent  irony,  for  the  ancient  power  of  Egypt 
had  now  veiled  its  head  to  that  of  Nineveh. 

Next  comes  a  round-headed  Assyrian  tablet,  cut  by 
Sennacherib,  on  his  invasion  of  Palestine  in  b.c.  702: 
that  campaign  in  which  his  army  was  destroyed,  as  we 
read  in  the  Bible.  The  great  king  stands  before  us,  with 
his  high  tiara  and  long  staff  of  majesty,  little  thinking  of 
the  humiliation  awaiting  him,  or  the  death  he  was  to  die 
at  the  hand  of  his  sons,  twenty  years  later,  in  Nineveh. 
After  this,  we  have  another  square  -  headed  tablet  of 
Bameses  II.,  dedicated  to  the  sun-god  Ba.  It  is  much  the 
best-preserved  of  the  various  Egyptian  tablets,  but  even 
in  it  there  are  only  traces  of  the  hieroglyphics  which 
once  covered  it.  From  the  others  they  have  been  entirely 
effaced  by  time.  In  the  upper  part  of  this,  Bameses  stands 
in  adoration  before  a  seated  deity :  even  the  Pharaoh 
admitting  that  there  were  higher  beings  than  himself, 
though  he,  also,  claimed  kindred  with  the  gods.  Passing 
this,  we  come  to  an  inscription  left  by  Shalmaneser  II.,  of 
Nineveh,  in  the  year  b.c.  860,  when  he  marched  to  the 
shores  of  “  the  Sea  of  the  West,”  and  here  raised  an  image 
of  himself,  as  his  records  tell  us,  after 


receiving  the 


homage  of  the  kings  of  Phoenicia.  The  figure  is  still 
quite  perfect,  even  to  the  elaborate  ornaments  of  the  robes  ; 
indeed,  it  has  often  been  copied  as  a  portrait.  Next  comes 
another  Assyrian  tablet,  round-headed  as  usual,  glorifying 
the  majesty  of  Sultan  Assurnazirpal,  the  father  of  Shal¬ 
maneser  II.,  who  had  just  closed  a  victorious  march 
through  Syria,  in  which  he  had  received  tribute  from  the 
different  local  states.  “  This  image  of  his  majesty,”  he 
tells  us,  he  erected  over  against  the  Great  Sea,  offering 


470  THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE.  [Chap. 

sacrifices  and  libations  to  his  gods  for  the  favour  shown 
him.  This  was  about  the  year  b.c.  860. 

Passing  on,  another  Assyrian  tablet,  this  time  square¬ 
headed,  meets  us,  only  five  feet  high  and  half  as  broad, 
but  of  venerable  antiquity,  for  it  dates  from  the  reign  of 
Tiglatli  Pileser  I.,  who  was  in  his  glory  about  1,100 
years  before  Christ,  and  carried  the  early  Assyrian  Em¬ 
pire  to  its  highest  power.  This  great  warrior,  after 
overcoming  the  Hittites  at  Carchemish  and  in  Syria, 
marched  along  the  coast  to  this  part  from  the  north, 
amusing  himself  as  he  did  so  by  venturing  into  a  “  ship 
of  the  people  of  Arvad,”  in  which  he  £C  rode  upon  the 
sea/'  and  “  slew  a  porpoise  ” — a  deed  grand  enough  to 
be  commemorated  in  his  annals.  One  aim  he  had  in  his 
advance  to  Beirout  was,  he  informs  us,  to  cut  down  cedars 
to  decorate  the  temples  of  Nineveh  :  so  early  had  the  fame 
of  these  trees  spread  over  W estern  Asia.  This  king 
was  succeeded  by  others  in  whose  hands  Assyria  for  a  time 
grew  so  much  weaker,  that  David  was  able  to  found  an 
empire  extending  from  the  sea  to  the  Euphrates,  which  he 
could  not  have  done  had  Assyria  retained  its  vigour.  A 
companion  tablet  to  this  one  is  also  Assyrian,  but  half  a 
century  older,  and  very  inferior  to  the  later  monuments  in 
its  execution.  The  figures  are  low  and  squat,  and  the 
details  of  decoration  of  the  hair,  beard,  and  dress  are  given 
with  far  less  care  than  in  the  later  Assyrian  tablets.  The 
last  inscription  was  originally  Egyptian,  dating  from  the 
remote  days  of  Bameses  II.,  when  Moses  was  still  young : 
this  and  the  two  others  I  have  already  noticed  of  the  same 
king  being  votive  offerings  to  the  gods,  in  gratitude  for 
the  victories  which,  as  he  fancied,  they  had  enabled  him 
to  gain  over  the  Hittites  and  Syrians.  Luckily,  this  tablet 
was  examined  by  Dr.  Lepsius  in  1845,  while  still  as  perfect 
as  its  great  age  allowed.  Since  then,  in  1861,  the  French 


LIL] 


BEIROUT. 


471 


General  of  Division,  sent  to  prevent  tlie  Druses  in  Lebanon 
from  continuing  to  massacre  the  Christians,  thought 
fit  to  obliterate  what  remained  of  the  inscription  of  the 
ancient  Pharaoh  and  substitute  a  French  one  telling  of 
the  presence  of  the  force  sent  by  that  evanescent  digni¬ 
tary  the  Emperor  Napoleon  III.  This  is  cut  into  a 
bed  of  stucco  and  yellow  paint — fit  material  for  such 
a  record. 

These  are  not,  however,  the  only  inscriptions  in  this 
great  gallery  of  old-world  memories.  The  very  intelligent 
Danish  Consul  at  Beirout  has  discovered  another,  higher 
up  the  crags,  left  by  Nebuchadnezzar  of  Babylon,  who  twice 
invaded  Egypt,  and  in  cue  of  his  campaigns,  as  we  know, 
carried  off  the  Jews  from  Jerusalem.  I  saw  the  “squeeze” 
of  the  inscription,  which  is  of  great  size,  and  still  legible 
in  part ;  but,  unfortunately,  it  gives  no  historical  details, 
simply  praising  the  wine  of  Helbon,  a  village  on  the  east 
side  of  the  great  valley  of  Hollow  Syria,  still  famous  for 
its  vintage.  That  such  a  series  of  chronicles  should 
be  visible  from  almost  a  single  point  is  very  striking. 
What  sights  this  pass  had  seen !  The  hare-limbed 
archers  and  spearmen  of  the  haughty  Pharaoh,  with 
their  shields  and  battle-axes,  as  we  see  them  on  the 
monuments ;  the  long  squadrons  of  Egyptian  chariots 
and  cavalry ;  proud  warriors,  their  eyes  flashing  with 
high  hopes  ;  the  music  of  their  bands  floating  far  out 
over  the  sea ;  their  flags  and  banners  fluttering  in  the 
air — now  all  turned,  these  thousands  of  years,  to  pale 
ghosts  in  the  silence  of  eternity !  Past  this  spot  their 
prancing  chariot-horses  had  borne  the  great  Sesostris — 
for  by  that  name  Pameses  If.  was  known  to  the  Greeks — 
Sennacherib,  Esarhaddon,  Sardanapalus,  and  Nebuchad¬ 
nezzar,  clad  in  royal  majesty,  with  their  great  men  in  all 
their  bravery,  before  and  behind,  and  their  long  myriads 


472 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


*  [Chap. 


of  warriors  !  “  Captains  and  rulers,  clothed  in  blue,  all  of 

them  desirable  young  men,  horsemen  riding  upon  horses 
— clothed  most  gorgeously,  with  girdles  on  their  loins, 
and  dyed  attire  of  passing  splendour,  great  lords  and 
renowned,” — leading  on,  as  they  rode  in  their  glittering 
armour,  long  hosts  of  chariots,  and  warriors  from  many 
lands,  with  buckler  and  spear  and  helmet,1  full  of  life  and 
eager  for  the  foe  ! 

The  bronze  gates  of  Shalmanezer  II.,  now  in  the 
British  Museum,  offer  a  representation  of  the  imposing 
ceremonial  connected  with  the  dedication  of  such  tablets 
as  those  of  the  Bog  Biver.  Priests  in  a  group  sacrifice 
before  a  statue  of  the  Great  King,  erected  on  the  shores  of 
Lake  Van.  They  stand  at  a  portable  altar,  planted  before 
the  statue,  clad  in  sacrificial  robes,  no  doubt  chanting 
some  appropriate  litany,  while  their  attendants  cast  into 
the  sea  portions  of  the  sheep  and  other  victims  slain  as 
offerings  to  the  gods.  Amidst  grand  military  display, 
such  rites  were  one  day  witnessed  before  each  tablet  I  had 
seen.  The  narrow  road  was  widened  in  front  of  each 
tablet,  to  leave  fitting  space  to  honour  the  lineaments  of 
the  Mighty  Buler ;  but  these  once  sacred  platforms  are 
now  encumbered  with  wreckage  from  the  hill  above. 

About  half  a  mile  from  the  mouth  of  the  Bog 
Biver  is  a  last  tablet,  to  commemorate  the  cutting  of 
what  was  then  a  lower  line  of  road,  round  the  cape, 
by  Marcus  Aurelius  Antoninus,  one  of  the  noblest 
men  of  the  ancient  world,  a  great  emperor,  but  also 
a  great  man,  valuing  truth  and  goodness  above  his 
imperial  purple.  The  inscription  tells  us  that  the  “  Im- 
perator,  Caesar,  Marcus  Aurelius  Antoninus  Pius,  the 
illustrious  august  one,  [worthily  surnamed]  Parthicus, 
Britannicus,  and  Germanicus,  the  High  Priest  [of  Borne], 

1  Ezek.  xxiii.  6,  12,  23,  24. 


LII.] 


BEIROUT. 


473 


opened  this  road ;  the  mountains  overhanging  the  river 
Lycus  having  been  cut  away  to  make  it.”  So  he,  also, 
was  here,  perhaps  when  he  went  on  to  Jerusalem,  with 
the  squalor  and  abominations  of  which  he  was  so  dis¬ 
gusted  that  he  contrasted  the  sordid  Sarmatians,  and 
Marcomanni,  and  Quadi,  beyond  the  Danube,  with 
the  Jewish  population,  to  the  disadvantage  of  the  pos¬ 
terity  of  Jacob.  The  tablet  dates  from  a  little  before  the 
year  a.d.  180,  when  he  died.  A  shorter  inscription,  nearer 
to  the  sea,  and  a  little  way  further  on,  breathes  the  loyal 
prayer  of  some  Roman  for  one  whom  all  men  so  deeply 
honoured  : — “  Unconquered  Imperator,  Antoninus  Pius, 
illustrious  august  one,  reign  for  many  years  !  ”  But  he 
had  soon  to  exchange  his  glory  for  a  shroud  ! 

It  is  from  these  hills  of  Lebanon,  stretching  away, 
height  over  height,  from  the  Dog  River,  that  the  ladies 
come  down  who  formerly  wore  long  horns  of  metal  to  hold 
up  their  veils.  I  was  not  fortunate  enough  to  see  any. 
This  strange  ornament  was  worn  by  ladies  of  different 
races,  but  especially  among  the  Druses,  who  live  on  the 
southern  parts  of  the  Lebanon  range.  At  first  these  horns 
seem  to  have  been  of  very  moderate  size,  some,  which  are 
worn  in  out-of-the-way  parts  even  now,  being  only  a  few 
inches  long,  and  made  of  pasteboard,  or  even  pottery.  By 
degrees,  however,  they  not  only  grew  longer,  but  were 
made  of  more  costly  material;  the  poorest  of  tin,  others  of 
silver,  and  some  even  of  gold.  But  the  fashion  is  dying 
out.  The  “  horns  ”  so  often  mentioned  in  Scripture  must 
not  be  supposed  to  be  the  same  as  this  singular  head- 
decoration,  which,  in  all  probability,  was  unknown  to  the 
Jews.  That  the  horn  is  the  natural  symbol  of  strength 
in  the  lower  animals,  early  caused  it  to  be  used  as  an 
emblem  of  power  in  any  sense.  “  All  the  horns  of  the 
wicked  will  I  cut  off,”  says  God,  “  but  the  horns  of  the 


I 


474  THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE.  [Chap. 

righteous  shall  be  exalted. ” 1  “  The  ten  horns  ”  in  Daniel 

are  “  ten  kings.”  2  To  “  defile  one’s  horn  in  the  dust  ”  3 
was,  hence,  equivalent  to  being  tried  by  adversity  and 
humiliation.  In  Habakkuk  the  strange  expression — “  he 
had  horns  coming  out  of  his  hand,”4  should  be  read  “rays 
of  light  from  his  side.”  The  “horns  of  the  altar”  were 
projections  of  metal,  so  called  from  their  shape,  used  for 
binding  sacrifices  on  the  altar,  as  where  the  Psalm  says, 
“  bind  the  sacrifice  with  cords  to  the  horns  of  the  altar.”  5 

The  Dog  Diver  is  a  broad  and  rapid  stream,  muddy 
with  rain  when  I  saw  it.  A  bridge,  strangely  built  in 
steps,  crosses  it,  but  there  is  nothing  to  see  on  the  other 
side  except  wild  rocks,  among  which  flocks  of  goats  pick 
a  living;  the  shepherd,  meanwhile,  quietly  walking  along 
the  top  of  the  crag,  above  his  adventurous  charge. 

I  paid  an  interesting  visit  with  President  Bliss  to 
some  caves  up  the  Dead  Iliver,  which  is  nearer  Beirout 
than  the  Dog  Diver.  The  stream  flows  strong  and  full, 
spriugs  bursting  up  with  great  force  at  various  points  in 
its  bed.  A  scramble  along  rough  paths  led  to  a  wild 
gorge,  beautiful  with  trees  of  many  kinds;  and  in  this 
romantic  spot  lay  the  first  cave.  Masses  of  breccia  covered 
the  floor,  and  huge  stalactites  hung  down  from  the  roof, 
but  as  we  had  no  hammers  we  could  do  nothing  to  discover 
prehistoric  remains.  These,  however,  have  been  abun¬ 
dantly  found. in  this  cave  and  others  in  the  vicinity,  and 
carry  us  back  to  a  very  remote  age  indeed,  perhaps  that  of 
the  primseval  inhabitants  of  the  region.  Numerous  flints, 
worked  into  scrapers  and  knives,  have  been  recovered  in 
the  very  cave  I  visited  ;  and  in  others,  worked  flints,  and 
numerous  fragments  of  the  bones  of  deer,  goats,  cattle, 

1  Ps.Ixxy.  10.  3  Job  xvi.  15. 

2  Dan.  viii.  20—24.  4  Hab.  iii.  4. 

5  Ps.  ex  viii.  27. 


i 


BEIROUT. 


475 


ETC] 

and  horses  have  been  found.  How  far  back  these  take 
us,  I  leave  others  to  determine.  One  thing  they  enforce  : 
the  innumerable  multitude  of  the  dead !  What  ages, 
long  forgotten,  have  strewn  the  earth  with  the  wrecks 
of  humanity,  as  the  autumn  of  each  year  covers  it  with 
the  fallen  leaves  of  summer ! 


/ 


l 


CHAPTEE  LIII. 


SIDON. 

From  Beirout  to  Tyre  and  Sidon  is  a  wearisome  jonrney 
along  the  seashore,  through  miles  of  deep  sand,  round 
wild  mountainous  headlands,  or  heside  the  dashing  water, 
which  is  as  unpleasant  to  the  horse  as  to  its  rider.  A 
brief  familiarity  with  the  noise  and  restlessness  of  the 
waves  is  romantic  enough,  hut  to  have  them  for  hour  after 
hour  advancing  and  retiring,  hissing  and  breaking  over 
the  only  firm  footing  there  is,  is  monotonous  in  the  ex¬ 
treme,  especially  in  the  heat  of  a  Syrian  day,  when  horse 
exercise,  at  the  best,  is  a  penance.  But  the  beauty  of 
the  neighbourhood  of  Sidon  makes  one  forget  such  petty 
troubles.  It  lies  in  a  green  setting  of  gardens  and 
orchards,  watered  by  the  grating  “sakiyeh”1  or  water¬ 
wheel,  slowly  turning  its  ponderous  wooden  frame,  raising 
its  jars  from  hidden  depths,  and  emptying  them  in  weari¬ 
some  succession  into  a  small  tank,  from  which  the  water 
is  led  off  to  the  roots  of  the  trees.2  All  the  growths  of 
warm  climates  flourish  here  in  thick  groves  —  pome¬ 
granates,  almonds,  palms,  bananas,  apricots,  figs,  olives, 
citrons,  plums,  pears,  peaches,  and  cherries.  Sidon  sup¬ 
plies  the  market  of  Damascus  with  oranges,  as  I  have 
had  occasion  to  say  in  describing  that  city ;  for  the  yellow 
globes  do  not  ripen  in  the  gardens  of  the  Syrian  capital, 
which  lies  about  2,400  feet  above  the  sea.  Like  all  the 

1  See  Yol.  I.,  pp.  7,  8.  2  Ps.  i.  3. 


Chap.  LOT.] 


SID  ON. 


477 


old  Phoenician  cities,  the  “  Mother  of  Tyre  ”  lay  on  a 
rocky  promontory,  where  it  enjoyed  easy  intercourse  with 
the  distant  lands  to  which  its  commerce  extended.  On 
the  north  the  ground  slopes  gently  to  the  beach  and  then 
falls  hack  into  a  small  bay,  a  low  reef  stretching  parallel 
with  the  shore  across  its  mouth,  thus  forming  a  natural 
breakwater,  inside  which  the  smaller  vessels  of  antiquity 
could  ride  in  safety.  There  is  also  a  long,  narrow  island, 
to  which  the  population  could  retire  in  time  of  danger, 
as  there  was  at  Tyre  and  at  some  other  Phoenician 
towns. 

Sidon  was  the  oldest  city  of  Phoenicia,1  and  in  ancient 
times  the  most  famous,  for  Homer,  who  never  speaks  of 
Tyre,  mentions  Sidon  more  than  once.  Ulysses,  speaking 
of  Phlyus  in  the  Peloponnesus,  tells  us — 


“  The  ship-renowned  Phoenicians  thither  came, 
Knaves,  bringing  many  trinkets  in  their  ships. 
There  was  a  woman  of  Phoenicia 
In  my  sire’s  house,  fair,  skilled  in  beauteous  works ; 
Her  the  Phoenicians,  crafty  men,  deceived  ; 

One  spoke  to  her  of  love,  as  near  the  ships 
She  washed  the  vests  :  a  thing  which  captivates 
Weak  women’s  minds,  though  prudent  one  may  be. 
He  asked  her  who  she  was,  and  whence  she  came ; 
She  told  him  of  her  father’s  liigh-roofed  house  : 

‘  From  Sidon,  rich  in  brass,  I  boast  to  be, 

Daughter  of  wealth-o’erflowing  Arytas: 

The  Taphians  seized  upon  me,  plunderers, 

As  from  the  fields  I  came,  and  hither  brought 
To  this  man’s  house,  and  he  a  fit  price  gave.’  ”2 


The  fair  Sidonian  garments  woven  by  Sidonian  women 
are  extolled  in  the  Iliad ,  and  the  silver  and  other  metal 
work  of  the  Phoenician  city  is  praised,  as  famous  beyond 


1  Gen.  x.  15. 


2  Odyss.,  xv.  415 — 429  ;  Barnard’s  translation. 


478 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


all  other  of  the  kind  in  the  world.1  The  Hebrews  assigned 
the  whole  district  to  the  tribe  of  Asher,2  but  it  never 
obtained  the  prize.3  Sidon  was  taken  by  the  Philis¬ 
tines  about  1,200  years  before  Christ,  and  Tyre  from 
that  time  became  the  chief  Phoenician  city.4  Isaiah, 
however,  centuries  later,  speaks  of  the  merchants  of  Sidon,5 
and  Ezekiel  refers  to  the  fame  of  its  sailors 6  as  late  as 
the  sixth  century  before  Christ.  Its  timber-hewers 
were  in  great  repute  in  the  time  of  Solomon,7  and  in 
that  of  Ezra,8  so  that,  although  Tyre  was  still  greater, 
Sidon  continued  to  flourish.  The  “  coasts  of  Tyre  and 
Sidon  ”  visited  by  our  Lord  were  in  all  probability  the 
plain,  scarcely  five  miles  broad  at  Sidon,  on  which  these 
two  cities  stood,9  so  that  He  was  very  near  the  great 
heathen  centres.  Nor  was  Sidon,  in  its  turn,  without  a 
band  of  Christian  converts,  even  in  the  time  of  St.  Paul ; 
for  the  great  Apostle,  when  he  “  touched  at  ”  it  as  a  pri¬ 
soner  on  his  way  to  Pome,  was  “  courteously  ”  allowed 
“  liberty  to  go  unto  his  friends  ”  there,  “  to  refresh 
himself  A10 

During  the  two  crusading  centuries,  Sidon  was  in  the 
hands  of  the  Christians  several  times,  once  for  seventy- 
five  years,  but  in  a.d.  1291  it  finally  passed  into  the 
possession  of  the  Maliommedans ;  and  whatever  life  it 
now  shows  is  only  a  gradual  revival,  the  result  of 
Christian  energy  and  industry,  especially  on  the  part  of 
the  French,  who  were  finally  driven  from  it  less  than 
100  years  ago.  The  population  is  about  10,000,  of 
whom  7,000  are  Moslems  and  Metawilehs,  700  Jews,  and 

1  Iliad,  xxiii.  741  ft.  2  Josh.  xix.  28. 

3  Juclg.  i.  31  ;  iii.  3;  x.  1 2 ;  Jos.  Ani.,  xv.  4,  1. 

4  Geikie,  Hours  with  the  Bible,  iii.  347. 

5  Isa.  xxiii.  2.  8  Ezra  iii.  7. 

6  Ezek.  xxvii.  8.  9  Matt.  xv.  21 ;  Mark  vii.  24. 

7  1  Kings  v.  6 ;  1  Cliron.  xxii.  4.  10  Acts  xxvii.  3. 


LIIL] 


SID  ON. 


479 


the  rest  Christians  of  different  sects.  The  Franciscans, 
who  are  very  strong  in  Palestine,  have  a  large  monastery 
here,  watched,  as  usual,  by  the  Jesuits,  to  whom  their 
liberality  of  mind  is  liatefnl — a  Jesuit  school  supplying  an 
agency  for  keeping  the  monks  under  supervision.  There 
is  also  a  Poman  Catholic  orphanage,  and  a  school  of  the 
Sisters  of  St.  Joseph ;  and  the  Americans  have  a  mis¬ 
sionary  station,  as  efficient  and  well  managed  as  one  could 
well  desire. 

The  streets  are  narrow,  crooked,  and  dirty,  like  those 
of  other  Oriental  towns,  but  many  of  the  houses  are  of 
stone — large  and  well  built,  especially  those  raised  on  the 
eastern  wall ;  their  positions  giving  them  pure  air  and  a 
pleasant  view.  There  are  six  khans  in  the  town,  one  of 
them — formerly  belonging  to  the  French — a  large  quad¬ 
rangle,  with  a  fountain  in  the  middle  of  its  hollow  square, 
and  covered  galleries  all  round.  A  great  four-square 
tower,  very  ruinous,  but  still  forming  the  citadel,  stands 
in  the  southern  quarter,  on  the  highest  ground  :  a  relic  of 
the  Crusaders.  From  its  top  the  view  is  very  fine.  The 
town  stretches  out  at  one’s  feet,  on  its  gentle  slope,  the 
boundless  sea  reaching  away  to  the  west,  while  the  lovely 
plain  on  all  sides  of  the  town  is  set  off  with  groves, 
gardens,  houses,  and  villages,  and  far  away  to  the  north 
rise  the  snow-crowned  tops  of  Lebanon. 

Spring  is  very  beautiful  in  this  part,  but  it  is  not 
always  to  be  counted  upon.  Heavy  rain-storms  sometimes 
fall  as  late  as  May,  and  the  mountain-tops  occasionally 
show  fresh  snow  even  in  that  month.  This  uncertainty 
is  .very  hurtful  to  the  crops,  which,  consequently,  fail  more 
frequently  in  Syria  and  Palestine,  from  untimely  frosts, 
than  in  many  other  lands  ;  from  this  fatality  silk  enjoys 
no  exemption.  The  Hebrews  were,  therefore,  in  an  especial 
degree,  led  to  think  of  the  need  of  Divine  favour  to  give 


480 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


them  harvests,  everything  depending  so  entirely  on  the 
heavens.  The  want  of  rain,  its  too  long  continuance,  its 
coming  at  wrong  times,  the  irruption  of  winter  into  spring, 
not  to  speak  of  dangers  from  insect  plagues,  have  indeed, 
in  all  ages,  forced  the  population,  of  whatever  creed,  to 
an  outward  religiousness  of  fear  or  selfishness ;  and  this, 
in  our  day,  occasionally  makes  Moslems,  Christians,  and 
Jews  lay  aside  their  fierce  dislikes  for  the  moment,  and 
unite  in  fasts,  processions,  and  prayers  for  the  pity  of  the 
All-merciful  on  the  drooping  field. 

In  Sidon,  as  elsewhere  in  the  East,  sacred  mottoes  are 
to  he  seen  on  the  outside  of  some  of  the  houses.  In  cer¬ 
tain  cases  interlaced  Arabic  letters,  comprising  verses  from 
the  Koran,  form  an  ornament  similar  to  our  cornices, 
round  the  walls  of  a  room,  and  many  houses  have  in¬ 
scriptions  over  the  door.  This  custom  prevails  in  every 
Mahommedan  country,  and  is  so  natural  in  those  who 
honour  a  special  book  as  sacred  that  it  has  held  a  place 
among  widely-separate  peoples  in  every  age.  We,  our¬ 
selves,  in  the  first  generations  after  the  Reformation, 
especially  in  Scotland,  put  pious  mottoes  from  Scripture 
over  our  house-doors,  as  may  still  be  seen  in  old  buildings 
in  Edinburgh  and  Glasgow ;  and  in  the  same  way  I  found 
the  walls  of  the  rambling  mud-brick  house  of  the  Chris- 
tian  sheikh  of  Luxor,  in  Upper  Egypt,  ornamented  with 
Bible  mottoes  in  Arabic.  It  was  in  accordance  with  this 
instinctive  propensity  that  Moses  told  the  people  of  Israel, 
“  These  words  which  I  have  commanded  thee  this  day, 
thou  slialt  write  upon  the  posts  of  thy  house,  and  on  thy 
gates.”1  Just  as  sentences  of  the  Koran  are  framed  and 
hung  as  pictures  on  the  walls  of  Moslem  houses  to-da}^, 
so  we  find  passages  from  the  Law  on  the  dwellings  of 
Oriental  Jews.  They,  further,  nail  to  their  door-posts  a 

1  Deut.  vi.  9 ;  xi.  20. 


LIII.] 


SID  OX. 


4S1 


small  tin  or  lead  case,  or  a  glass  tube,  or  “  mezuzah.”  In 
this  there  is  a  piece  of  vellum  about  three  inches  square, 
with  the  words  of  Deuteronomy  vi.  4 — 9,  and  xi.  13 — 21, 
written  on  one  side  with  great  care,  the  vellum  being 
afterwards  folded  to  about  half  an  inch  wide,  with  the 
writing  inside,  and  the  word  Sliaddai,  one  of  the  names  of 
the  Almighty,  on  the  back,  a  hole  being  left  in  the  case, 
through  which  this  can  be  seen  in  passing.  Thus  com¬ 
plete,  the  “  mezuzah,”  a  name  meaning  simply  a  door-post, 
is  nailed  in  a  slanting  position  on  the  right-hand  side  of 
the  outer  door;  another,  exactly  similar,  being  fixed,  in 
the  same  way,  at  the  side  of  every  door  within.  A  pious 
Jew  never  goes  out  to  his  day’s  work  without  kissing 
the  “  mezuzah,”  and  seldom  passes  from  room  to  room 
without  bowing  to  it;  and  if  he  removes  to  another 
house,  he  takes  it  with  him,  unless  a  Jew  is  to  succeed 
him  in  the  tenancy. 

The  phylacteries  which  the  Pharisees  “  made  broad  ” 1 
were  two  little  boxes  of  leather  which  contained,  written 
on  strips  of  vellum,  the  words  of  Exodus  xiii.  2 — 10, 
11 — 17,  and  Deuteronomy  vi.  4 — 9,  13 — 22.  To  this 
box  were  attached  leather  bands  which  could  be  made 
broader  or  narrower,  and  by  these,  one  of  the  boxes  was 
tied  to  the  left  arm,  at  the  bend  of  the  elbow,  and  the 
other  put  on  the  forehead.  The  breadth  of  the  phylac¬ 
teries  used  by  the  Pharisees  referred  to  the  thongs,  and  to 
the  little  boxes  themselves :  the  greater  size  and  width 
being  used  to  attract  attention.  In  our  Lord’s  day,  such 
things  were  worn  by  all  Jews,  boys  being  required  to  use 
them  when  they  were  thirteen  years  and  a  day  old,  after 
which  they  were  regarded  as  “  sons  of  the  commandments.” 
When  phylacteries  were  introduced  is  not  clearly  known, 
but  it  is  thought  that  they  came  into  fashion  during  the 

1  Matt,  xxiii.  5. 


// 


482 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


exile,  as  a  literal  compliance  with  the  command  to  hind  the 
Law,  “for  a  sign,  upon  thine  hand,  and  they  shall  he  as 
frontlets  between  thine  eyes,”  just  as  the  “  mezuzah  ”  is  a 
fulfilment  of  the  injunction  to  “  write  them  upon  the  posts 
of  thy  house,  and  on  thy  gates.”  1 

Sidon,  like  Tyre,  was  famous  from  the  earliest  ages  for 
its  dye-works,  which  produced  the  purple  so  much  esteemed 
by  the  ancients.  This  was  obtained  from  two  species  of 
shell-fish  of  the  family  known  as  murex — -shells  with  rough 
points  outside  and  a  spindle-like  prolongation  at  the  upper 
end.  The  secretion  which  yields  the  dye  varies  in  shade 
in  different  species.  Originally  whitish,  it  grows,  when 
exposed  to  sunlight,  first  yellow,  then  green,  and  finally, 
in  the  different  molluscs,  red,  or  violet-purple.  The  abun¬ 
dance  of  these  valuable  shell-fish  on  the  Phoenician  coast 
led  to  the  founding  of  Dora,  and  there,  as  at  Tyre  and 
Sidon,  although  they  are  now  virtually  extinct  in  the 
shallow  water,  whole  masses  of  them  are,  at  times,  thrown 
up  from  the  sea,  after  storms.  From  the  earliest  ages  the 
smoke  of  the  dye-works  of  Tyre  and  Sidon  must  have 
been  seen  from  the  hills  behind,  curling  up  into  the  clear 
sky  ;  and  the  sight  must  have  been  familiar  to  the  Jews, 
and  to  the  Divine  Child  of  Nazareth. 

There  are  not  many  antiquities  in  Sidon,  wave  after 
wave  of  conquest  having  swept  away  most  traces  of  the 
remote  past.  Tombs  abound  in  the  plain  and  on  the  sides 
of  the  hills  behind  the  town  ;  some  of  them  with  many 
chambers  for  the  dead,  like  the  so-called  Tombs  of  the 
Kings  at  Jerusalem.  I  have  often  wondered  at  the  bare 
and  comfortless  walls  of  these  rock-cells  in  the  Holy  City, 
so  different  from  the  pictured  beauty  with  which  the 
Egyptians  delighted  to  adorn  their  last  resting-places ;  but 
the  abhorrence  among  the  Jews  of  representations  of  living 

1  Deut.  vi.  8,  9. 


LIII.] 


SID  OK 


483 


creatures,  or  of  the  human  figure,  may  in  part  account  for 
it.  Here,  at  Sidon,  however,  many  tombs  were  coated 
with  strong  cement,  in  the  Greek  age  at  least,  and  on  this 
are  still  to  he  seen  inscriptions,  sometimes  written  with  a 
sharp  point  before  the  stucco  was  dry ;  sometimes  added 
in  red  ink  after  the  wall  was  hardened.  Wreaths  of 
flowers,  small  birds,  and  palm,  orange,  and  various  other 
fruit-trees,  are  met  in  one  or  the  other,  showing  that  the 
locality  was  very  much  the  same  in  old  times  as  it  is  now. 
Oranges  and  citrons,  by  the  way,  first  became  familiar  to 
the  Hebrews  during  the  exile,  the  native  homes  of  these 
trees  being  Media  and  Persia,  where  many  Jews  were 
settled.  It  is  hard  to  say  where  there  are  not  tombs 
round  Sidon,  for  the  whole  ground  seems  to  be  honey¬ 
combed  with  them,  though  a  great  many  are  now  covered 
with  soil,  and  only  found  by  accident.  At  the  north-west 
angle  of  the  harbour  are  some  immense  stones,  each  about 
ten  feet  square,  the  remains  of  ancient  quays  and  sea¬ 
walls.  The  castle,  of  which  I  have  already  spoken,  is  very 
interesting.  Part  of  it  is  nearly  solid,  with  granite  pillars 
built  into  the  wall  at  regular  distances ;  these  buttresses 
being  part  of  the  wreck  of  ancient  mansions,  public  build¬ 
ings,  and  temples.  The  bevelled  edge  in  masonry  was 
formerly  thought  to  imply  antiquity,  but  I  have  before 
remarked  that  it  is  now  found  to  characterise  later  work 
as  well  as  earlier,  so  that  its  presence  here  proves  nothing 
as  to  the  age  of  the  building.  Columns,  sarcophagi, 
broken  statues,  and  other  remains  of  the  ancient  city  are 
often  to  be  seen  in  gardens  and  orchards ;  not  a  few 
have  been  dug  up  from  beneath  many  feet  of  soil,  as  simi¬ 
lar  relics  of  the  long  past  are  excavated  at  Ascalon. 

That  so  little  stone  is  to  be  seen  where  a  large  city 
once  stood,  is  at  once  explained  by  the  custom  of  carry¬ 
ing  off  the  remains  of  antiquity  as  building  materials  for 

//2 


484  THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE.  [Chap. 

modern  edifices.  The  houses  of  to-day  in  the  cities  of 
Palestine  are  largely  built,  as  I  have  often  said,  from  the 
stones  of  cities  long  deserted.  Not  a  little  of  that  used 
for  ancient  buildings  was,  moreover,  soft,  and  though  last¬ 
ing  enough  when  duly  protected,  crumbled  to  soil  when 
left  exposed  to  the  weather.  A  great  trade  is  done  in 
calcining  the  ruins  of  ancient  towns,  where  they  are  cal¬ 
careous.  Huge  marble  pillars  are  ruthlessly  broken  up 
for  this  purpose,  and  many  sarcophagi,  and  even  statues, 
have  shared  the  same  fate. 

Buried  treasures  are  not  unfrequently  found  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Sidon,  and  the  number  of  ancient  coins 
in  circulation,  here  and  elsewhere,  through  Palestine  and 
Syria  is  wonderful,  though  many  of  them  are  of  little 
value.  The  most  famous  discovery,  for  value  and  interest, 
took  place  about  fifty  years  ago,  when  some  workmen,  as 
they  were  digging,  found  a  number  of  copper  jars  full  of 
gold  coins  of  Alexander  the  Great  and  his  father  Philip, 
each  worth  more  than  a  sovereign.  How  they  came  there 
it  is  of  course  impossible  to  say,  but  they  must  have  been 
hidden  from  the  time  of  the  Macedonian  world-conqueror, 
2,200  years  ago.  In  Beirout,  the  Danish  Consul  showed 
me  a  collection  of  coins  made  by  himself,  numbering  many 
hundreds,  for  every  city  had  its  own  coinage.  The  ex¬ 
treme  poverty  of  most  Orientals  generates  a  superstitious 
reverence  for  money,  and  this  is  increased  by  the  pos¬ 
sibility  that  any  spot  may  conceal  stores  large  enough  to 
make  a  man  permanently  rich.  Hence  the  least  suspicion 
of  the  existence  of  a  hoard  creates  an  excitement  which 
we  can  hardly  realise.  The  finding  of  a  single  coin  may 
be  enough  to  rouse  the  hope  of  “  hidden  treasure,”  and 
to  lead  to  the  most  eager  toil,  in  every  direction,  to 
find  it.  Indeed,  treasure-seekers  abound  all  over  the 
country.  This  helps  one  to  understand  Job’s  expression 


LIII.] 


SID  ON. 


485 


about  those  in  trouble  who  “  dig  for  death  more  than  for 
hid  treasures,”1  and  the  words  of  Proverbs,  “If  thou 
seekest  her  [understanding]  as  silver,  and  searcliest  for 
her  as  for  hid  treasure,  then  slialt  thou  understand  the 
fear  of  the  Lord,  and  find  the  knowledge  of  God/’ 2  Nor 
is  it  only  in  modern  times  that  such  treasures  have  been 
found,  as  indeed  these  verses  show  :  in  the  Gospels  our 
Lord  alludes  to  “  treasure  hid  in  a  field,  the  which, 
when  a  man  hath  found,  he  hideth,  and  for  joy  thereof 
goeth  and  selleth  all  that  he  hath,  and  buyeth  that 
field.”3 

The  greatest  discovery  ever  made  at  Sidon,  however, 
was  not  a  hoard  of  coin,  but  the  sarcophagus  of  Esmu- 
nazar,  “  King  of  the  Sidonians,”  who  lived  in  the  fourth 
century  before  Christ.  It  was  found,  by  the  merest  acci¬ 
dent,  not  in  a  tomb  or  mausoleum,  but  almost  on  the 
open  ground,  in  a  field  close  to  the  town.  How  it  got 
there  is  a  mystery,  for  the  Phoenicians  took  immense  pains 
to  make  the  tombs  of  their  dead  secure.  Thus,  at  Tyre, 
they  dug  a  shaft  large  enough  to  let  down  the  coffin  or 
sarcophagus  into  a  spacious  tomb  below,  and  the  small 
opening  overhead  was  so  carefully  concealed  that  it  is 
very  difficult  to  find  one,  even  now.  At  Sidon,  the  rock 
was  cut  away  to  make  a  large  level  space,  now  used  as 
the  threshing-floor  for  the  neighbourhood.  Underneath 
this,  however,  reached  by  square  shafts  like  those  at  Tyre, 
are  countless  tombs,  opening,  in  many  cases,  from  chamber 
to  chamber,  over  a  large  space,  according  to  the  wealth  of 
the  family  to  which  they  first  belonged,  and  the  number 
who  would  need  a  resting-place  in  this  last  home.  In  many 
cases,  still  further  precautions  were  taken,  by  laying  down 
a  special  floor  of  large  stones,  or  by  cutting  a  deep  trench 
in  the  floor  and  hiding  away  the  sarcophagus  in  it,  after- 
1  Job  iii.  21.  2  Prov.  ii.  4.  3  Matt.  xiii.  44. 


486 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


wards  smoothing  the  surface  above  with  coats  of  cement, 
as  if  all  underneath  were  solid.  To  tap  the  threshing-floor 
at  almost  any  point  thus  leads  down  to  a  wide-branching 
city  of  death,  hidden  in  utter  darkness.  But,  indeed,  it 
has  been  tapped  long  before  our  day,  in  the  eager  search 
after  the  wealth  supposed  to  he  buried  with  the  dead. 

In  January,  1855,  the  French  Consul  at  Beirout  heard 
of  the  discovery  at  Sidon  of  a  wonderful  sarcophagus  of 
hard  black  basalt,  finely  polished,  and  instantly  took 
measures  to  secure  it  for  his  nation.  A  long  inscription 
on  its  lid,  in  an  unknown  character,  heightened  the  general 
excitement,  till  all  the  town  went  out  to  see  it.  The  lid 
is  peculiar  from  its  imitation  of  the  Egyptian  custom  of 
having  the  upper  end  wrought  into  a  likeness  of  the 
deceased ;  the  head-dress,  too,  beiug  quite  unusual.  The 
face  is  larger  than  life,  with  a  rather  low  forehead,  almond- 
shaped,  projecting  eyes,  a  broad,  flat  nose,  thick  negro¬ 
like  lips,  a  small  chin,  and  large  ears  standing  out  some¬ 
what  from  the  head.  But  there  is  nothing  unpleasant  in 
the  countenance  on  the  whole,  for  a  smile  plays  over  it 
and  redeems  it  from  plainness.  A  beard,  like  that  seen  on 
Egyptian  coffins,  hangs  from  the  chin — a  false  one,  as  was 
usual  in  the  valley  of  the  Nile — and  a  bird,  perhaps  a  dove, 
sits  on  each  shoulder.  The  proportions  of  the  lid — seven 
feet  by  four — do  not  admit  of  elegance  in  the  figure,  the 
whole  surface  being  covered  with  it,  contrary  to  all  require¬ 
ments  of  symmetry.  The  inscription  occupies  twenty-two 
lines,  which  are  in  perfect  preservation.  Such  a  relic  of 
Phoenicia  created  as  great  a  stir  as  that  caused,  at  a  later 
day,  by  the  Moabite  stone  ;  no  fewer  than  forty  scholars 
having,  since  its  discovery,  made  translations  of  the  in¬ 
valuable  text  which  it  supplies.  The  following  is  mainly 
the  version  of  Professor  Oppert  and  that  of  Penan,  the 
last  published : — 


LIII.] 


SIDOK 


487 


“  In  the  month  of  Bui,1  in  the  fourteenth  year  of  the 
reign  of  King  Esmnnazar,  king  of  the  Sidonians,  son  of 
King  Tahnit,  king  of  the  Sidonians,  King  Esmnnazar, 
king  of  the  Sidonians,  spoke,  saying  : 

“  I  am  snatched  away  before  my  time ; 2  my  spirit  has 
disappeared  like  the  day  [which  dies  into  night],  and 
since  then  I  am  silent,  since  then  I  became  mute,  and 
I  am  lying  in  this  coffin,  and  in  this  tomb,  the  place  which 
I  have  built. 

“  0  Reader  !  I  adjure  everyone,  either  of  royal  race  or 
of  lower  birth,  not  to  open  my  sepulchre  to  seek  after 
treasures,  for  there  are  none  hidden  here  with  me ;  let  no 
one  move  my  coffin  out  of  its  place,  nor  disturb  me  in  this 
my  last  bed,  by  laying  another  coffin  over  mine.  If  men 
command  thee  to  do  so,  do  not  listen  to  them,  for  the 
punishment  [of  the  violators  of  my  grave]  shall  he  :  Every 
man  of  royal  race,  or  of  common  birth,  who  shall  open 
this  sarcophagus,  or  who  shall  carry  it  away,  or  shall  dis¬ 
turb  me  in  it,  he  shall  have  no  burial  with  the  dead, 
he  shall  not  be  laid  in  a  tomb,  nor  leave  behind  him  any 
son  or  posterity,  for  the  holy  gods  will  extirpate  them. 

“  Thou,  whoever  [thou  art,  who  mayest]  he  king  [after 
me],  command  those  over  whom  thou  mayest  reign  to  cut 
off  any,  whether  members  of  the  roj^al  race,  or  common 
men,  who  remove  the  lid  of  this  sarcophagus,  or  take  it 
away ;  command  them,  also,  to  cut  off  even  the  offspring 
of  such  men,  whether  royal  or  common.3 

“  Let  there  be  no  root  to  them,  to  strike  downwards  ; 
no  fruit  to  shoot  upwards,  nor  any  living  being  [to  per¬ 
petuate  their  memory]  under  the  sun. 

1  We  cannot  tell  whether  this  was  in  the  flowery  spring  or  in  the  glowing 
sun-scorched  autumn. 

2  Deutsch. 

3  Renan  renders  this — “  they,  the  gods,  shall  cut  off  any  .  .  .  thoy 

shall  cut  off  even  the  offspring.” 


488 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


“  For  I  am  to  be  pitied — snatched  away  before  my  time 
- — the  son  of  the  flood  of  days,  disappearing  like  the  light, 
from  the  time  I  became  voiceless  and  silent. 

“  For  I,  Esmunazar,  king  of  the  Sidonians,  son  of 
King  Tabnit,  king  of  the  Sidonians,  [who  was]  the  grand¬ 
son  of  King  Esmunazar,  king  of  the  Sidonians  : 

“  And  my  mother  Amastarfce,  the  priestess  of  Astarte, 
our  mistress,  the  Queen,  the  daughter  of  King  Esmunazar, 
kin  g-  of  the  Sidonians  : 

“  It  was  we  who  built  the  temple  of  the  gods,  and  the 
temple  of  Ashtaroth,  in  the  seaside  Sidon,  and  placed  there 
the  image  of  the  Ashtaroth,  and  we  built  the  temple  of 
Eshmun. 

“  And  it  was  we  who  built  the  temples  of  the  gods  of 
the  Sidonians,  in  the  seaside  Sidon — the  temple  of  Baal 
of  Sidon,  and  the  temple  of  Astarte,  who  bears  the  name 
of  this  Baal 1  [that  is,  Astarte  Peni  Baal]. 

“  The  lord  of  kings  gave  us  Dora  and  Joppa  [towns 
on  the  coast  of  the  plain  of  Sharon],  with  the  fertile 
corn  lands  in  the  plain  of  Sharon,  and  added  it  to  the 
territory  of  our  land,  that  it  may  belong  to  the  Sidonians 
for  ever. 

“  O  Header  !  I  adjure  every  man  of  royal  race,  and 
every  common  man,  not  to  open  my  coffin,  or  deface  [the 
inscriptions  on]  its  lid,  or  disturb  me  in  this  my  last  bed, 
or  carry  away  the  sarcophagus  in  which  I  rest. 

“  Whoever  does,  let  the  holy  gods  extirpate  them  and 
their  offspring  for  ever,  whether  they  be  of  royal  race  or 
men  of  the  common  crowd  ! 99 

Thus  we  stand,  for  the  moment,  in  this  glimpse  into 
long-dead  ages,  face  to  face  with  men  to  whom  Baal  and 
Astarte  were  supreme  in  heaven  and  on  earth.  Dora 
1  All  Phoenician  gods  weie  Baal,  and  all  goddesses  Astarto, 


LIII.] 


SID  OK 


4S9 


and  Joppa,  also,  live  before  us,  with  their  moving 
life  of  more  than  two  thousand  years  ago ;  and  Sharon 
waves,  then  as  now,  with  yellow  grain,  the  reward  of  the 
patient  husbandman.  Poor  Esmunazar’s  dread  of  being 
disturbed  in  his  tomb  was  not  unfounded,  and  shows  how 
ancient  must  have  been  the  practice  of  rifling  tombs  for 
“hidden  treasures. ”  Who  first  violated  his  last  home,  so 
carefully  guarded,  so  surrounded  with  ghostly  imprecations 
against  disturbers,  no  one  can  tell,  for  his  sarcophagus  had 
lain  under  a  thin  coating  of  garden  soil,  having  been 
buried  for  ages,  before  a  happy  accident  brought  it  to 
light.  It  is  very  singular,  however,  to  trace  the  sub¬ 
sequent  history  of  this  violation  of  the  grave.  The  Duke 
de  Luynes,  who  bought  the  sarcophagus  and  presented  it 
to  the  French  Government,  fell  in  Ifcaly^  in  the  war  with 
Austria,  in  1859;  and  there,  also,  his  only  son  perished. 
The  Emperor  Napoleon,  who  caused  it  to  be  brought  to 
Paris,  ended  his  days  a  discrowned  exile,  in  England,  and 
his  only  son  met  an  untimely  death  in  South  Africa ; 
nor  is  there  a  single  descendant  left  of  either  the  Duke 
de  Luynes  or  Napoleon  III.1  I  do  not  mean  to  suggest 
that  the  imprecations  of  the  long-dead  Sidonian  king 
brought  about  this  singular  fatality,  but  the  coincidence 
is  one  of  the  strangest  of  which  I  know. 

The  gardens  of  Sidon  reach  more  than  a  mile  to  the 

o 

south,  ending  at  the  bed  of  a  broad  winter-torrent,  the  flat 
bottom  of  which  is  piled  with  boulders  of  all  sizes,  in 
great  numbers.  A  mile  further  on  is  the  small  stream 
Sanik,  and  at  about  five  miles  from  Sidon  you  reach  the 
small  river  Zaherany,  once  crossed  by  a  bridge  which  has 
long  since  fallen,  and,  of  course,  has  never  been  rebuilt. 
The  road  or  track  passes  along  the  edge  of  the  uplands 
bordering  the  sea,  on  which  it  looks  down  from  a  height 

1  Geikie,  Hours  with  the  Bible,  ii.  3G2. 


490 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE.  [Chap.  LIII. 


of  twenty  or  twenty-five  feet.  About  a  mile  back,  there 
is  a  striking  gorge,  with  a  village  at  its  opening,  and 
a  ruined  temple  on  a  spur  of  rock  above  it.  The  hills 
around  show,  moreover,  that  a  great  population  once  lived 
near,  their  sides  being  everywhere  hollowed  into  tombs, 
one  of  which  is  so  large  that  it  is  sometimes  used  for 
religious  worship.  This  spot  wa,s  famous  in  early  days 
for  the  great  engineering  works  by  which  it  was  made  to 
contribute  a  water-supply  to  Sidon.  Far  up  among  the 
mountains  towering  to  the  north  and  east,  the  Zaherany 
bursts  from  the  rocks  in  a  copious  spring,  known  as  the 
Fountain  of  the  Cup.  The  cold  pure  water  of  this  stream 
had  charms  for  the  Sidonians  such  as  can  appeal  only  to 
the  people  of  a  hot  climate.  They  determined,  there¬ 
fore,  to  take  advantage  of  it,  and  for  this  purpose  had  an 
aqueduct  led,  at  some  parts  in  rock-cut  channels,  at  others 
in  strongly -built  conduits,  from  the  far-away  spring  to 
the  lowly  bed  of  the  Sanik,  in  the  plains  far  below,  whence 
it  was  easily  brought  to  the  city.  The  water-course  was, 
in  part,  carried  on  high  arches  over  deep  glens,  then,  down 
and  ever  down  for  more  than  a  mile,  along  the  face  of 
precipices  where  goats  can  hardly  find  a  footing,  till  it 
reached  the  torrent-bed.  In  some  places,  indeed,  two 
separate  aqueducts  were  built,  one  over  the  other.  Such 
a  display  of  skill  speaks  highly  for  the  civilisation  of 
ancient  Phoenicia  in  directions  we  should  not  otherwise 
have  suspected.  The  world  was  not  so  far  behind  us  in 
those  distant  ages  as  we  are  apt,  in  our  vanity,  to  suppose. 
Perhaps,  indeed,  it  was  in  some  respects  in  advance  of  us. 


CHAPTER  LIY. 


SAREPTA  AND  TYRE. 

The  bed  of  tbe  Zaherany  is  bright  with  a  thick  fringe  of 
oleanders,  which  relieves  the  monotony  of  the  road  now 
that  the  gardens  of  Sidon  are  passed.  Numerous  wadys 
cut  up  the  sand  and  run  back  into  the  hills,  water  flow¬ 
ing  in  at  least  one  of  them,  and  making  its  banks  rejoice 
in  orchards  of  oranges,  peaches,  pomegranates,  and  other 
fruit-trees.  The  memorable  site  of  Sarepta  lies  only  a 
short  way  farther  on,  and  is  reached  through  a  pleasant 
and  comparatively  fertile  neighbourhood.  Herds  of  oxen 
and  flocks  of  goats  pasture  here  and  there,  and  the  soil  is 
more  or  less  fertile  with  crops.  But  agriculture  at  this 
spot,  as  elsewhere  in  the  East,  is  very  primitive.  The  only 
process  before  sowing  is  the  ploughing  of  the  ground  with 
the  wretched  implements  characteristic  of  the  whole  of 
Western  Asia,  half  an  acre  a  day  being  the  most  that 
ordinary  labour  can  scratch  into  nominal  furrows  and  then 
sow  over.  There  is  no  harrowing,  nor  does  it  seem  there 
ever  has  been,  for  the  word  rendered  “  to  harrow,”  in  the 
Bible,  seems  rather  to  mean  a  breaking  of  the  clods  with 
mallets,  as  is  still  occasionally  done.  The  jdough  covers 
the  seed,  which  is  then  left  to  Providence.  The  weakness 
of  the  coulter  and  other  parts  of  the  plough  requires, 
moreover,  that  advantage  be  taken,  in  all  but  the  most 
friable  soils,  of  the  softening  of  the  surface  by  the  winter 
or  spring  rains ;  so  that  the  peasant,  if  industrious,  has  to 


492 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


“  plough,  in  the  winter/’1  though  sluggards  still  shrink 
from  its  cold,  and  have  “  to  beg  in  the  harvest.” 

The  ruins  of  Sarepta  are  scattered  over  the  plain,  at 
intervals,  for  more  than  a  mile :  one  group  is  on  the 
coast,  and  may  be  the  remains  of  the  ancient  harbour. 
These  lie  on  a  tongue  of  land  which  forms  a  small  bay  aud 
pleasantly  varies  the  monotony  of  the  otherwise  unbroken 
coast-line.  Fine  crops  brighten  part  of  the  plain  around, 
though  only  the  small  village  of  Surafend,  the  modern 
representative  of  the  ancient  town,  is  actually  surrounded 
by  green.  Sarepta  was  famous  for  its  wine  in  the  early 
Christian  centuries,  but  it  got  its  name  in  the  Hebrew 
Bible — Zarpath — from  its  being  in  still  older  days  a  chief 
centre  of  the  glass-works  of  Phoenicia — the  word  meaning 
“  melting-houses.”  It  belonged  to  the  territory  of  Sidon,2 
and  must  have  been  a  large  place,  if  we  may  judge  from 
the  number  of  rock-tombs  at  the  foot  of  the  hills. 

Its  supreme  interest,  however,  to  all  Bible  readers  lies 
in  its  connection  with  the  great  Prophet  Elijah.  A  place 
is  still  shown  at  the  old  harbour  where  a  Christian  church 
once  stood,  on  the  alleged  site  of  the  widow’s  house  in 
which  the  prophet  lived.  But  no  value  is  to  be  attached 
to  such  a  localisation,  though  the  spot  is  still  called  “  the 
Grave  of  Elijah,”  in  the  belief  that  he  finally  died  here. 
There  is  no  end  to  such  traditions,  spun  in  dreamy  brains. 

D  uring  the  reign  of  the  Crusaders,  Sarepta  was  strongly 
fortified,  and  made  the  seat  of  a  bishop,  who  was  subject 
to  the  Archbishop  of  Sidon ;  but  as  early  as  the  end  of  the 
thirteenth  century  it  had  sunk  into  utter  desolation. 
Legend  has  tried  to  identify  it  with  the  home  of  the 
Syrophcenician  woman  whose  daughter  Christ  healed,  but 
there  is  no  ground  for  this  fancy.  Its  fame  must  always 
rest,  for  Christians,  on  the  noble  lesson  of  faith  in  God 

2  1  Kings  xvii.  9 ;  Luke  iv.  26. 


1  Prov.  xx.  4. 


LIY.] 


SAREPTA  AND  TYRE. 


493 


taught  by  the  prophet  on  the  one  hand,  and  by  the  great¬ 
hearted  widow  on  the  other. 

Riding  south,  towards  Tyre,  one  sees  some  villages  on 
the  bluffs  behind,  but  none  on  the  plain,  which  does  not 
offer  the  same  security.  Yet  the  landscape  was  once 
dotted  with  rich  villas,  for  fragments  of  mosaic  pavements, 
with  finely-hewn  stones,  are  still  found.  Patches  of  barley 
and  wheat  vary  the  level,  and  the  yellow  bluffs  of  rock 
also  are  frequently  set  off  with  green.  It  was  strange 
to  notice  the  solitude  of  the  waters,  once  busy  with  the 
restless  coasting  and  foreign  trade  of  Phoenicia.  The 
peasants  have  no  boats,  and  no  wish  for  them,  avoiding 
the  shore  rather  than  coming  near  it.  A  stream  called 
the  Aswad  runs  into  the  sea  a  few  miles  south  of  Sarepta, 
with  a  safe  ford  at  one  spot,  but  dangerous  at  its  mouth, 
on  account  of  quicksands,  which  give  way  under  man  or 
beast  if  inadvertently  stepped  upon.  The  central  arch  of 
an  ancient  bridge  spans  the  channel,  but  the  approaches 
on  both  sides  have  long  since  disappeared,  so  that  it  is  of 
no  use. 

The  great  river  Leontes,  known  at  this  point  as  the 
Kasimieli,  but  along  all  the  rest  of  the  course  as  the 
Litany,  pours  into  the  sea  about  half-way  between 
Sarepta  and  Tyre.  Its  course,  including  its  many 
windings,  is  in  all  about  120  miles,  in  passing  over 
which  it  descends  fully  4,000  feet,  from  its  highest 
source  in  Lebanon.  It  rises  close  to  the  source  of 
the  Orontes,  in  the  broad  plain  of  Hollow  Syria,  near 
Baalbek — its  farthest,  not  its  highest,  permanent  source 
being  there.  We  crossed  it,  as  may  be  remembered,  at 
Shtorah,  on  the  way  to  Beirout,  and  from  that  point  it 
flows  south-west,  through  the  Lebanon  mountains,  fight¬ 
ing,  most  of  the  way,  through  a  narrow  chasm  worn  by 
its  waters  in  the  course  of  ages.  Leaping  from  point  to 


494 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


point,  “it  boils,  it  wheels,  it  foams,  it  thunders  ”  on,  at 
one  place  making  its  way  through  a  tunnel,  cut  by  it  in  a 
rock  more  than  ninety  feet  thick,  so  as  to  form  a  natural 
bridge.  At  some  places  it  is  hardly  more  than  six  feet 
wide,  but  the  depth  is  unknown.  At  others  it  rushes 
down  in  furious  madness  600  or  even  800  feet  beneath 
your  standing-place,  till,  at  last,  flowing  almost  at  a 
right  angle  with  its  original  course,  it  bursts  from  the  grip 
of  the  hills  and  seeks  rest  in  the  ocean,  to  which  it  makes 
its  way  with  many  windings,  between  banks  thick  with 
rich  overhanging  green.  Its  current  is  swift,  and  it  is  too 
cold  for  bathing,  except  during  the  hot  months,  coming 
as  it  does  from  the  snows  of  Lebanon.  The  low  plain 
which  it  crosses  is  unhealthy,  else  one  would  expect  to 
find  a  town  at  its  mouth,  for  the  fishing  off  the  coast  here 
is  the  best  in  this  part  of  Syria.  Yet,  without  doubt,  the 
whole  neighbourhood  was  once  thickly  inhabited,  proofs  of 
its  having  been  so  presenting  themselves  in  scattered  ruin» 
on  every  side.  The  view  of  Mount  Hermon  from  this 
point  is  peculiarly  grand.  North  and  south  its  gigantic 
mass  rises,  covered  on  its  long  ridge  with  unstained  snow; 
the  middle  somewhat  lower  than  the  two  ends,  but  its 
majesty,  as  a  whole,  impressive  beyond  words. 

As  we  approached  Tyre,  we  passed  some  files  of  camels 
laden  in  most  cases  with  merchandise,  which  they  were 
slowly  carrying  north.  On  the  humps  of  some,  however, 
were  women  and  children,  swaying  backward  and  forward 
unceasingly  with  the  painful  gait  of  the  animal ;  but 
natives  are  so  accustomed  to  this  twisting  and  rocking 
that  they  do  not  feel  it.  Indeed,  children  even  imitate 
it  when  learning  by  heart  their  lessons  from  the  Koran 
in  their  rude  schools,  on  the  floor  of  which  the  little 
creatures  rock  to  and  fro  all  the  time  they  are  at  their 
task.  The  Arabs  are,  happily,  little  known  in  this  part, 


LIV.] 


SAREPTA  AND  TYRE. 


495 


but  tlieir  evil  reputation  is  universal.  Stories  abound  of 
their  robbing  travellers  when  they  have  a  chance.  One 
case  I  heard,  of  a  poor  European  being  set  uj>on  by  four¬ 
teen  of  them,  robbed  of  his  knapsack,  wounded  on  the 
head,  and  turned  adrift,  after  being  stripped  quite  naked  : 
a  strange  repetition  of  the  story  of  the  man  who  fell 
among  thieves  on  the  way  to  Jericho.  It  is,  in  fact,  un¬ 
safe  to  go  through  any  Arab  district  without  the  protec¬ 
tion  of  companions.  Ishmael  is  the  same  to-day  as  four 
thousand  years  ago  ;  a  wild  man,  with  his  hand  against 
every  man,  and  every  man’s  hand  against  him. 

Tyre  is  now  a  small  and  wretched  place,  with  the  pre¬ 
tence  of  a  bazaar,  in  which  beans,  tobacco,  dates,  and 
lemons  are  the  chief  articles  for  sale.  The  American 
Consul,  a  great  man  in  the  town,  is  a  native.  A  collec¬ 
tion  of  miserable  houses,  of  one  or  two  storeys,  with  filthy 
lanes  for  streets,  forms  all  that  now  calls  itself  Tyre.  It 
lies  on  what  was  once  the  famous  island-site  of  the  ancient 
city.  Alexander  the  Great,  however,  unable  to  reach  it 
otherwise,  built  a  mole  to  connect  it  with  the  mainland ; 
stones  and  rubbish  being  thrown  into  the  strait  between 
it  and  the  shore  till  a  broad  road  rose  above  the  waters ; 
and  this  has  been  so  widened  by  the  sand,  in  the  course 
of  a<ms,  that  it  is  now  about  half  a  mile  across.  There 
were  originally  two  islands,  connected,  in  Phoenician 
times,  by  a  mound;  so  that  it  is  hard  to  restore  the 
ancient  topography,  now  that  mainland  and  islands  are 
run  into  one.  Along  the  sea  face,  the  rocks  are  rugged 
and  picturesque,  rising,  towards  the  south,  thirty  or  forty 
feet  above  the  sea,  and  cut  out  at  many  points,  by  the 
ancient  population,  with  great  patience  and  ingenuity, 
into  a  series  of  small  harbours,  landing-places  for  boats, 
shallow  docks,  and  salt-pans.  The  whole  length  of  the 
site,  including  all  its  parts,  is  only  about  1,200  yards 


496 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[CHAr. 


from  north  to  south,  and  about  a  third  less  from  east 
to  west,  so  that  the  Tyrians  must  have  been  wonderfully 
crowded  if  the  city  on  the  mainland  did  not  give  room 
enough  for  comfort;  for  the  island  was,  doubtless,  in 
great  part  covered  with  tall  warehouses,  landing- wharves, 
sailors’  barracks,  and  all  the  other  accessories  of  a  huge 
commerce. 

It  is  impossible,  now,  to  trace  the  docks  in  which  the 
great  Tarshish  ships  lay  safe  from  the  winds,  for  the  sea 
and  man  have  long  since  removed  nearly  all  remains  of 
the  past ;  but  there  are  still  two  small  hays,  one  on  the 
north  and  the  other  on  the  south,  which  were  part  of  the 
harbourage.  Along  the  whole  sea  face,  to  the  west,  and 
indeed  everywhere,  are  seen  fragments  of  fortifications 
dating  from  the  time  of  the  Crusaders;  and  pillars  of  granite 
and  syenite  taken  by  them  from  ancient  temples  or  public 
buildings,  for  binding  the  wall,  now  lie,  sometimes  in 
numbers,  on  the  sand  and  the  rocks.  At  low  water,  more¬ 
over,  remains  of  ancient  concrete  pavement  are  to  he  seen, 
full  of  bits  of  pottery,  smoothing  the  roughness  of  the 
ledge,  and  enabling  boats  to  land  safely.  There  are  still 
some  remains  of  a  mole,  and  at  the  very  north  of  the  island 
a  stone  nearly  seventeen  feet  long,  and  six  and  a  half  feet 
thick,  still  shows  the  splendour  of  the  sea-wall  of  Old  Tyre 
thousands  of  years  ago.  In  one  place  nearly  twenty  great 
pillars,  two  feet  in  diameter,  lie  in  the  water  together, 
black  externally,  but  seen  to  be  of  fine  pink  granite  when 
chipped.  The  harbours,  however,  are  now  entirely  sanded 
up.  Even  small  boats  cannot  enter,  but  must  anchor 
outside,  half-naked  men  carrying  the  cargo  out  on  their 
heads,  through  the  shallows. 

The  present  town  occupies  only  a  small  portion  of  the 
peninsula.  Everywhere  the  ground  is  covered  with  frag¬ 
ments  of  stone  pillars  and  masonry.  Nor  is  the  surface 


LIV.] 


SAREPTA  AND  TYRE. 


497 


alone  tlius  ricli.  The  space  east  of  the  town  is  used  as  a 
quarry,  excellent  building-stones  being  found  at  a  depth 
of  fifteen  or  twenty  feet,  and  occasionally  coins  and  gems, 
once  dear  enough  to  their  owners.  Altogether,  the  area  of 
the  islands  is  about  200  acres,  but  when  we  remember 
that  By  bios  occupied  only  100  acres,  and  Sidon  not  much 
more,  the  space  covered  by  insular  Tyre  is  seen  to  have 
been  beyond  that  common  in  ancient  Phoenician  cities. 
What  might  not  be  found  if  excavations  sufficiently  deep 
were  made  in  this  narrow  field  ? 

The  grandeur  of  ancient  Tyre  is  hard  to  realise  when 
on  the  actual  site,  the  space  being  in  every  way  so  limited. 
The  docks  of  London  cover  twice  as  much  space  as  the 
whole  of  the  ancient  Phoenician  capital,  while  of  its  two 
harbours,  tlie  northern  only  occupies  twelve  acres,  and  the 
southern  about  the  same.  Nor  do  there  seem  ever  to  have 
been  works  connecting  the  different  parts  of  the  two  reefs 
which  run  north  and  south  beyond  both  these  ports,  though 
the  existence  of  the  rocks  was  evidently  the  cause  of 
Tyre  being  built  where  it  was,  for  the  sake  of  the  safe 
anchorage  obtained  behind  them,  from  whatever  quarter 
the  wind  might  blow.  We  must  therefore  understand 
the  descriptions  of  the  mercantile  marine  of  the  great 
city  by  a  local  standard  suited  to  a  remote  age.  Tarshish 
ships  may  have  been  in  some  cases  large  and  splendid,  but 
these  must  have  been  comparatively  few  in  number,  for 
there  was  no  room  at  Tyre  or  Sidon  even  for  the  shipping 
of  towns  like  Dundee  or  Aberdeen,  while  a  single  dock  on 
the  Thames  would  hold  a  greater  number  of  vessels,  of 
immensely  greater  tonnage,  than  could  have  found  moor¬ 
age  in  Tyre  and  Sidon  together.  What  justly  seemed 
wonderful  to  early  antiquity  would  in  our  day  be  reckoned 
almost  insignificant :  a  fact  which  must  not  be  forgotten 
in  reading  the  description  of  Tyre  by  the  Prophet  Ezekiel. 

0  fJ 


498 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


The  site  of  Tyre  may  be  compared  to  a  short-stemmed 
key  with  the  wards  turned  to  the  north ;  the  barrel  broaden¬ 
ing  out  cone-like  towards  the  straight  general  line  of  the 
coast.  Remains  of  the  wall  built  along  the  edges  of  the 
key-head  still  remain,  showing  that  it  once  ran  round  the 
whole  extent,  looking  down  on  the  sea-edge,  over  the 
waves  which  beat  ceaselessly,  twenty  to  thirty  feet  below, 
on  the  countless  rocks  that  fringe  the  shore.  Between  this 
old  fortification  and  the  modern  town  lies  an  open  space 
on  the  south  side,  used  as  a  quarry,  but  it  is  also,  in  part, 
ploughed  and  sown  ;  in  part  used  as  a  cemetery.  At  the 
south-east  corner  of  the  wall,  close  to  the  point  from  which 
an  ancient  mole  ran  out  at  an  acute  angle  from  the  shore, 
stand  the  ruins  of  a  Crusading  castle,  now  in  a  garden. 
Not  far  from  it  are  the  remains  of  the  Christian  Cathedral, 
in  which  the  mailed  warriors  of  Europe  worshipped  our 
Lord,  apparently  on  the  site  of  the  once  famous  Temple  of 
Melcarth,  the  patron  god  of  Tyre. 

Of  the  ancient  industries  of  Tyre — the  glass  factories 
and  dye  works,  once  so  noted — the  only  traces  remaining 
are  fragments  of  glass,  which  have  become  consolidated 
into  a  hard  mass  with  the  sand  of  the  rocky  slopes,  and 
thick  layers  of  crushed  shells  of  the  murex,  which,  having 
yielded  the  famous  purple,  were  cast  out  near  the  town. 
The  ruins  of  the  Cathedral  are,  in  fact,  the  most  striking 
feature  of  the  place ;  for  a  mass  of  architecture  so  huge, 
raised  by  our  fellow-Christians  in  such  a  distant  spot, 
fills  the  mind  with  wonder.  The  choir,  with  its  side- 
chambers,  is  still  to  be  seen,  and  even  the  remains  of  a 
winding  stair,  by  which,  apparently,  access  was  gained  to 
the  Cathedral  tower.  The  walls  of  the  church  are  from 
fifteen  to  thirty  feet  thick,  and  two  huge  granite  pillars 
still  show  that  its  interior  decorations  were  magnificent. 


LIV.] 


SAREPTA  AND  TYRE. 


499 


They  remain  where  they  are,  in  fact,  only  because  they 
are  too  heavy  for  the  Turk  to  remove  them. 

The  glory  of  Tyre  has  long  since  sunk  beneath  the 
waters.  Splendid,  according  to  Eastern  ideas,  even  in  the 
time  of  the  Crusades,  it  was  wholly  deserted  after  the 
destruction  of  the  Christian  kingdom,  till  within,  com¬ 
paratively  speaking,  a  few  years  hack.  The  Metawilehs, 
who  have  latterly  settled  in  it,  have  raised  it  once  more 
to  a  place  of  human  habitation  ;  but  it  is  still  very  poor 
and  wretched,  with  little  or  no  trade,  harbours  filled  up 
and  useless,  and  poor  communications  with  the  interior 
or  the  coast  towns. 

Ezekiel’s  prophecy 1  has,  indeed,  been  fulfilled,  for  the 
fisherman  spreads  his  nets  on  the  reefs  and  ruined  walls, 
and  the  once  famous  queen  city  is  now  only  a  fishing  vil¬ 
lage,  with  a  small  coasting  trade  in  cereals,  fruit,  and  silk. 
Water  is  supplied  by  a  fountain  which  was  originally  in 
the  interior  of  the  island,  but  is  now,  of  course,  apparently 
on  the  mainland,  since  the  island  has  for  ages  been  joined 
to  the  shore.  The  dip  of  the  rocks  from  the  hills,  fortu¬ 
nately  for  the  ancient  Tyrians,  enabled  a  vigorous  subter¬ 
ranean  streamlet  to  send  its  waters  under  the  sea  to  the 
rock  constituting  the  island,  and,  there,  an  equally  fortu¬ 
nate  crack  brought  them  to  the  surface,  in  a  never-failing 
supply.  It  was  through  this  that  the  island  city  was  able 
to  stand  the  long  sieges  it  endured,  for  it  never  seems  to 
havq  been  troubled  by  want  of  water. 

As  one  stands  amidst  the  squalor  that  now  reigns,  the 
imagination  has  food  enough,  assuredly,  for  dreams  of  the 
past !  Eleven  hundred  years  before  Christ  the  silent  space 
around  was  busy  with  many-coloured  life  and  industry: 
the  capital  of  the  Dutch  of  the  ancient  world.  “  Old 
Tyre  ”  stretched  back  over  the  plain ;  insular  Tyre — a 


1  Ezek.  xxvii. 


500 


THE  HOLT  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


small  Liverpool — crowded  itself,  as  it  best  could,  on  this 
reef.  Architecture  and  ship-building  among  the  Tyrians 
had  already  in  the  time  of  Solomon  become  so  famous,  that 
he  boriew  d  from  them  the  skill  which  built  his  Temple, 
carved  its  roofs,  and  doors,  and  walls,  made  its  metal-work 
of  all  kinds,  and  built  his  ships.  Sailing  in  the  night  by 
the  stars  is  said  to  have  been  a  result  of  their  thoughtful 
study  of  navigation.  From  this  little  island  they  visited 
not  only  all  the  coasts  of  the  Mediterranean,  but  fetched 
tin  from  Cornwall  and  amber  from  the  Baltic.  Gades, 
the  Spanish  Cadiz  of  to-day,  was  a  Tyrian  colony,  and  so 
was  Carthage,  in  Africa;  and  there  were  lesser  settlements 
in  many  parts  of  the  world.  The  enterprising  islanders, 
however,  seem  to  have  been  as  hateful  oppressors  as  their 
children  at  Carthage,  who  finally  perished,  as  a  state,  be¬ 
cause  of  their  tyranny  over  their  neighbours.  Tyre  must, 
like  that  city,  have  been  a  hateful,  cruel  despot  over  the 
towns  in  the  vicinity  subject  to  her;  for  as  early  as  the 
reign  of  the  Assyrian,  Shalmaneser  III.,  the  besieger  of 
Samaria,  all  the  Phoenician  communities  of  Palestine,  in¬ 
cluding  even  Old  Tyre,  on  the  mainland,  put  their  flotilla 
at  the  service  of  the  invader,  to  crush  the  island  city.  But 
her  navy  was  too  skilfully  managed  to  be  defeated,  twelve 
of  her  ships  driving  off  sixty  sent  against  her  by  the  allies, 
and  bringing  a  siege  of  five  years  to  a  conclusion  glorious 
for  the  defenders.  Nor  was  Nebuchadnezzar  able  to  take 
the  haughty  island,  though  he  tried  his  best  against  it  for 
thirteen  years  together,  his  battalions  striving  year  after 
year,  till,  to  use  the  words  of  Ezekiel,  “  every  head  was 
made  bald,  and  every  shoulder  was  peeled,”  but  all  for 
“no  wages,”  1  the  flag  of  Tyre  waving  proudly  to  the  end  ! 
Under  the  Persians,  who  succeeded  the  Babylonians,  the 
glory  of  Tyre,  in  keeping  with  the  prophecies,  was  sadly 

1  Ezek.  xxix.  18. 


LIV.] 


SAREPTA  AND  TYRE. 


501 


dimmed  ;  but  sbe  remained  a  powerful  town  for  some  cen¬ 
turies  longer,  able  to  resist  even  Alexander  tbe  Great,  in 
B.c.  332,  for  seven  months.  Her  story,  indeed,  for  ages, 
has  been  only  a  slow  dying,  with  intervals  of  recovery, 
followed  by  relapses  into  a  lower  position,  till  the  place 
has  become  what  we  see  it  to-day. 


CHAPTER  LV. 

CONCLUSION. 

After  a  journey  over  Palestine  in  every  direction  it  is 
natural  to  contrast  the  present  with  the  past.  That  the  land 
was  once  very  much  more  fruitful  than  it  is  now  admits  of 
no  doubt.  But  could  it  at  any  time  have  been  fertile,  as  a 
whole,  according  to  Western  ideas?  It  could,  but  only 
where  wrater  was  plentiful.  The  plain  of  the  Jordan,  that 
of  Shechem,  Esdraelon,  and  similar  level  spaces,  easily 
irrigated  by  springs  breaking- out  at  the  foot  of  the  neigh¬ 
bouring  hills,  must,  in  all  ages,  have  been  exceedingly 
rich,  and  so  must  any  other  parts  where  the  vital  neces¬ 
sity,  moisture,  could  be  readily  obtained.  Round  Csesarea- 
Philippi,  and  at  Dan,  or  along  the  valley  of  the  Huleh, 
or  in  the  little  plain  of  Gennesaret,  the  country  must 
always  have  been  like  the  garden  of  the  Lord.  But  it  was 
different  with  the  hills  which  cover  so  much  of  the  land. 
Where  springs  sparkled  down  them,  there  would  be  abun¬ 
dance,  but  everywhere  else  the  collection  of  rain-water  in 
wells  must  have  been  the  one  resource  for  summer  irriga¬ 
tion.  That  Palestine,  in  such  districts,  has  always  been 
waterless,  is  shown  by  the  thousands  of  rain-pits  dug  in 
ancient  times,  and  still  remaining.  The  stores  gathered 
in  these  might  water  the  terraces  painfully  made  along 
the  hill-sides,  but  only  after  hard  and  constant  labour; 
nor  would  they  suffice  if  not  supplemented  by  copious 


Chap.  LY.] 


CONCLUSION. 


503 


rains  in  autumn  and  spring.  Drought  would,  indeed,  cut 
off  all  hope,  for  in  that  case  the  rain-pits  would  he  empty. 

The  hills  of  Southern  Palestine,  moreover,  are  in¬ 
credibly  barren ;  like  a  brain-coral,  as  I  have  said,  with  its 
numberless  seams  fretting  the  bulges  of  grey  limestone. 
Industry,  in  a  warm  climate,  does  wonders  with  vegeta¬ 
tion,  if  there  be  water ;  but  to  terrace  these  stony  hills 
must  have  been  infinitely  harder  work  than  to  clear  a  far 
larger  space  of  “  bush  ”  in  Canada,  and  open  rich  virgin 
soil  to  the  sun.  Terraces,  moreover,  could  only  offer 
narrow  banks  for  culture  along  the  rounded  slopes,  and 
there  must  have  been  large  districts  in  which  no  terracing 
could  have  repaid  the  husbandman,  amidst  such  a  bare 
and  awful  wilderness  of  rock.  The  amazing  stoniness  of 
the  soil  in  very  many  parts,  also,  must  have  limited  fruit¬ 
fulness,  for  it  seems  as  if  stones  had  been  rained  down 
over  most  of  Palestine.  I  have  been  in  many  countries, 
but  I  never  saw  anything  similar,  except  perhaps  some 
parts  of  Nova  Scotia  or  of  Dartmoor.  The  ground  can 
in  fact  hardly  be  seen,  in  not  a  few  localities,  for  the 
boulders  and  stony  wreck  strewn  over  it. 

I  cannot,  therefore,  suppose  that  even  in  its  best  ages  the 
Promised  Land  was  one  of  which,  as  a  whole,  a  Western 
people  would  have  thought  much,  however  fertile  it  might 
be  in  parts.  The  praise  of  it  in  the  Bible  must,  I  ap¬ 
prehend,  be  understood  by  an  Oriental  standard,  which 
regards  any  country  as  a  paradise  where,  even  in  parts, 
there  are  living  springs  and  green  plains.  Small  things 
are  always  great  by  comparison.  Alongside  the  thirsty 
desert  Palestine  was  a  dream  of  delight ;  compared  with  a 
country  like  England,  or  any  rich  European  or  American 
state,  it  seems  very  poor  indeed.  There  is  immeasurably 
more  beauty  and  fertility  in  a  single  English  county  like 
Kent  than  in  all  Palestine,  including  its  best  spots. 


504 


THE  HOLY  LAND  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


[Chap. 


Indeed,  Kent  is  too  large  for  a  fair  comparison.  Its 
sixty-five  miles  of  width,  and  forty  of  depth  from  north 
to  south,  give  it  too  great  an  advantage,  against  so 
small  a  country  as  Palestine,  which  is  only  140  miles 
from  Dan  to  Beersheba,  and  does  not  average  anything 
like  forty  miles  in  its  breadth.  A  much  smaller  county 
would  hold  its  own  against  all  the  Holy  Land,  though 
the  climate  in  Palestine  stimulates  vegetation  so  wonder¬ 
fully  that  even  barrenness  which  would  he  worthless 
elsewhere  blossoms  amazingly  when  there  is  the  flow  of 
water. 

The  future  of  Palestine  no  one  can  foresee.  That  any 
considerable  number  of  Jews  will  ever  return  to  it  is  most 
improbable.  The  Hebrew  does  not  take  kindly  to  agri¬ 
culture.  His  delight  is  in  trade,  as  a  middleman,  very 
seldom  as  a  producer.  Money-lenders,  also,  by  instinct, 
from  the  wealthy  financiers  of  London  to  the  trembling 
Jew  of  Southern  Bussia,  the  race  everywhere  live  by  their 
head  much  more  than  by  their  hands.  Their  advantages 
among  the  busy  populations  of  civilised  countries  are 
too  much  to  their  taste  to  permit  of  their  ever  gathering 
in  any  numbers  on  the  stony  hills  of  the  Holy  Land.  In¬ 
deed,  those  in  Palestine  are,  as  a  rule,  quite  miserable ; 
drawing  their  sustenance  largely  from  their  brethren  else¬ 
where,  though  the  country  virtually  lies  open  to  their 
industry,  if  they  would  turn  to  the  plough.  The  Jew 
may  have  a  deep  traditional  love  for  Jerusalem,  but  he 
prefers  to  edit  papers,  to  fill  professorial  chairs,  to  finance, 
and  to  trade,  where  he  can  thus  employ  himself,  to 
sweltering  for  his  daily  bread  on  the  thirsty  uplands 
of  Judsea.  Nor  is  this  a  modern  feature  of  the  Hebrew 
nationality.  For  ages  before  Christ,  the  Dispersion — that 
is,  the  Jews  in  foreign  countries — far  outnumbered  those 
in  the  fatherland ;  and  it  is  not  to  be  forgotten  that  when 


LV.] 


CONCLUSION. 


505 


permission  was  given  to  return  from  Babylon  to  Judaea, 
only  a  very  small  number  were  willing  to  leave  the  rich 
plains  and  commercial  advantages  of  the  region  of  the 
Euphrates. 

The  future  of  the  land,  it  appears  to  me,  belongs  to  the 
hardy  fellahm,  if  ever  Divine  mercy  deliver  it  from  the 
baleful  presence  of  the  Turk,  who  has  been  rightly  called 
“the  Scourge  of  God,”  and  bring  it  under  the  life-giving 
protection  of  some  Christian  Power. 


INDEX. 


Abana,  river,  ii.  415,  426,  427 
Abba,  or  outer  garment,  i.  2,  5,  13,  14,  87,  133, 
169,  181 

Abel-beth-Maachah,  ii.  389,  390 
Abel  Meholah,  Ain  Helweh,  ii.  254 
Abiah  holds  a  court  at  Beersbeba,  i.  256 
Abil,  ii.  389 

Abimelech,  i.  84  ;  title  of  kings,  i.  239  ;  high 
priest  at  Nob,  ii.  158 

Ablutions,  fountain  for,  necessary  near 
heathen  temple,  i.  103;  ii.  408 
Abner  murdered  by  Joab,  i.  167 
Abraham,  i.  84,  86 ;  Eliezer  servant  of, 
i  88 ;  entertaining  two  angels,  i.  212 ; 
country  in  which  settled,  i.  235;  buys 
Machpelah,  i.  250,  339-  342;  size  of  en¬ 
campment  of,  i.  285;  mosque  of,  i.333 — 335; 
its  position,  i.  339;  separation  from  Lot, 
ii.  186;  at  Bethel,  ii.  187;  builds  altar, 
ii.  205,  208,  209 

Absalom,  battle  in  which  overthrown,  i  50 ; 
Hushar’s  counsel  to,  i.  74  j  tomb  of,  ii. 
2,- 3 

Abud,  village  of,  i.  57 
Abu  Nabat,  fountain  of,  i.  27 
Abu  Zabura,  harbour  of,  i.  71 
Acacia,  Valley  of  the,  i.  105,  109,  110,  112 
Aceldama,  Field  of  Blood,  i.  548 
Achisn,  Philistine  king,  i.  119,  121 
Achsa  obtains  field  for  Othniel,  i.  360 
Acre,  i.  69,  138 ;  bombardment  of,  ii.  296 ; 
Phoenician,  ii.  296,  297  ;  under  Crusaders, 
ii.  297  ;  destruction  of,  ii.  297  ;  population 
of,  ii.  298  ;  the  burial-grouud  at,  ii.  298  ; 
corn  trade  of,  ii.  298  j  water  supply  of, 
ii.  300 

Adaseh,  ii.  170 

Adder,  words  for  in  O.  T.,  i.  242 
Adonijah,  feast  of,  i.  555  ;  plot  overturned,  i. 
556 

Adonis,  grove  to,  i.  418 

Adullam,  Cave  of,  i.  107 — 109,  323 ;  royal 
city,  i.  108 ;  ruins  of,  i.  103 ;  David  at,  i. 
110 

iElia  Capitolina,  name  given  to  Jerusalem  by 
Hadrian,  i.  91 
ZEneas,  healing  of,  i.  32 
Africa,  name  given  by  Romans,  i.  83 
Agriculture,  implements  of,  i.  170 
Agricultural  Jewish  colony,  i.  28 
Ahab,  i.  36,  94 

Ahaziah,  King  of  Samaria,  i.  94  ;  consults  the 
oracle  of  Beelzebub,  i.  96  ;  embassy  of,  to 
Elcron,  i.  96  ;  falls  through  lattice,  i.  96 
Ahimaaz  and  Jonathan,  i.  557 
Ai,  “el  Tell,"  ii.  179;  siege  and  destruction 
of,  ii.  179, 180,  371 ;  to  Bethel,  route  from, 
ii.  185 

A  id-el- Ma,  see  Adullam 

Ain  Dor,  ii.  252 

Ain  el  Jemain,  ii.  258 

Ain  el  Tin,  ii.  346 

Ain  Hanniyeh,  ii.  135,  194 

Ain  Haramijeh,  country  round,  ii.  195 

Ain  Jalud,  stream  of,  ii.  250,  255,  256 

Ain  Karim,  ii.  149,  150 


Ain  Slxems,  see  Bethshemesh 
Ain  Sufsafeh,  ii.  286 
Ain  Tabghali,  see  Beth-aida 
Ain  Tul&um,  ii.  250 
Ainita,  village  of,  ii.  449 
Ajalon,  valley  of,  ii.  175,  181 
Ajjur,  i.  112 
Akir,  see  Ekron 
Akur,  ii.  148 

Alexander  the  Great,  at  Gaza,  i.  185 ;  besieges 
Tyre,  ii.  495,  501 
Alexandria,  i  22 
Alfonso  de  Ojeda,  i.  414 
Algiers,  Dey  of,  i.  165 

Aliyeh,  “upper  chamber,'’  examples  of,  ii.  253 
Alliance,  Dili  versa!  Israelitisk  i.  24 
Allusions,  accuracy  of  Gospel,  ii  347 
Almonds,  orchards  of,  a.  6,  33,  136,  145. 
Alms-houses,  i.  545 

Altar,  brazen,  i.  515  ;  built  by  Abraham,  ii. 
186,  188,  205,  208,  209 

Amalekites,  David  at  war  with  the,  i.  121 ; 
life-long  enemies  of  Hebrews,  i.  121 ;  living 
by  plunder,  i.  121 ;  .raiding  south  country 
of  Judah,  i.  121;  tent-dwelling  Bedouins, 
i.  121 ;  routed  by  Gideon,  ii.  257 
Amasa,  murder  of,  ii.  169,  389 
Amaziah,  beaten  by  Jeboash,  ii.  141 
American  Presbyterian  Mission,  Beirout,  ii. 
461 

Ammon  invades  Judah,  ii.  116 

Ammonite  prisoners,  David’s  treatment  of, 

i.  149 

Amorites  in  Northern Moab,  i.  86;  towns  of, 
on  fortified  hills,  i.  86  ;  Heshbon  aud 
Bashan,  kingdoms  of,  i.  86  ;  live  kingdoms 
of,  i.  86  ;  greatest  Canaanite  race,  i.  86 
Amos,  on  origin  of  Philistines,  i.  83;  alludes 
to  his  calling,  i.  135;  refers  to  putting 
prisoners  under  threshing-sledge,  i.  149 ; 
threat  of,  fulfilled  in  Gaza,  i.  186  ;  pierc¬ 
ing  sycamore  figs,  i.  228  ;  refers  to  grape 
harvest,  i.  320  ;  shepherd  of  Tekoa,  i.  399 
Amphitheatre,  at  Ca3sarea,  i.  62  ;  at  Ebal  and 
Gerizim,  ii.  219 

Amulets,  Isaiah  refers  to,  i.  255 

Amwas,  long-reputed  site  of  Emmaus,  ii.  143 

Ana,  population  of,  i.  29 

Anathoh,  ii.  156,  159;  birthplace  of  Jeremiah, 

ii.  159  ;  view  from,  ii.  160 
Anchorites  in  Palestine,  i.  396 

Anemone,  i.  33,  39,  81 ;  thought  by  some  to  be 
the  “Lily  of  the  Valley,”  i.  40 
Animals,  cruelty  to,  no  law  against,  i.  82; 
tormeuted  by  flies,  i.  95 ;  wild,  formerly 
very  frequent  in  Palestine,  i.  103  ;  ii.  181 ; 
dead,  left  unburied,  i.  157 ;  in  Gilead,  i. 
217 ;  giving,  names  to  places,  i.  218 ;  fre¬ 
quent  in  antiquity,  i.  218;  near  Jerusalem, 

i.  219;  in  winter,  i.  225,226;  at  Jordan, 

ii.  87  ;  tamed  by  monks,  ii.  127 
Annunciation,  Church  of  the,  at  Nazareth,  ii. 

273 

Anointing  the  person,  i.  139 
Antiochus  Epipliaues,  death  of,  i.  61 
Antipatris,St.Paul  taken  to,  i.  51;  requirements 


508 


INDEX. 


to  identify  site  of,  at  Ras-el-Ain,  i.  54  ; 
site  of,  now  fixed,  i.  54;  situation  of,  i.  55; 
built  by  Herod,  i.  55,  61 
Antiquity,  remains  of,  i.  i63,  164 
Antonia  (fort),  i.  502 
Antonia  (tower),  i.  523 
Antony,  i.  23 

Ants,  i.  383, 384;  carrying  off  barley,  i.  384,  385 

Anvils,  i.  160 

Aphek,  ii.  252 

Apollo,  temple  to,  i.  163 

Apples  in  the  Holy  Land,  i.  200 ;  towns  called 
after,  i.  201 

“  Apple  of  Sodom,”  ii.  74,  117 
Apricots,  orchards  of,  i.  6,  33 
Aqueducts  at  Caesarea,  i.  62,  64,  67 ;  at  Jerusa¬ 
lem,  i.  379;  in  valley  of  Urtas,  i.  380,  381, 
386;  Pilate’s,  i.  436  ;  high-level,  ii.  36,  69 
Arabic,  inscriptions,  i.  33;  influence  of  on 
local  vocabulary,  ii.  376 
Arable  land,  i.  135 

Arabs,  headdress  of,  i.  2  ;  plundering  villages, 
i.  57;  club-bearers  on  road  to  Caesarea, 
i.  58 ;  poor  and  unscrupulous,  i.  58  ;  own 
land  round  Mukhalid,  i.  76 ;  formerly 
owned  land  between  Caesarea  and  Tiberias, 
Carmel  and  Beisan,  i.  76 ;  severity  of,  in 
case  of  fire  among  crops,  i.  115 ;  evening 
spent  with,  i.  116  ;  related  to  Israel  by 
blood,  i.  121;  wandering,  i.  135;  patri¬ 
archal  life  of,  i.  136 ;  wealth  of,  i.  136 ; 
Terabin,  i.  166  ;  innocent  blood  among, 
thought  to  cry  for  revenge,  i.  167  ;  re¬ 
venge  among,  i.  168;  at  Ascalon,  i.  193; 
living  on  milk,  i.  211  ;  revenge,  i.  216 ; 
formal  courtesy  of,  i.  250  ;  hospitality  of, 
i.  279  ;  simplicity  of,  i.  280  ;  waudering  in 
Palestine,  i.  282 ;  only  kept  in  check  hy 
Turkish  soldiers,  i.  282  ;  meal  in  tent  of, 

i.  284;  the  tribes  of,  i.  289;  “town 
eouncil,”  i.  295  ;  insecurity  from,  i.  318  ; 
dress  of,  ii.  360;  encampment  of,  i.  401; 
arms  of,  ii.  361 ;  notorious  robbers,  ii.  495 

Arak,  village  of,  i.  292 

Aramaic  still  recognisable  in  peasant  dialect, 

ii.  376 

Aramathaim,  i.  30,  note 

Araunah,  threshing-floor  of,  i.  146,  148 

Arbutus,  i.  77 

Arcade,  remains  of,  at  Ramleb,  i.  34  ;  in  ruined 
khan,  i.  128  1 

Arcadius,  Emperor,  i.  163 
Arch,  general  use  of,  in  buildings,  i.  4, 10 
Archelaus  deposed  and  banished,  i.  23 
Arches  of  aqueduct  at  Cses  u-ea,  i.  62 
Architecture,  Hebrew,  i.  379 
Ai  ieh,  probable  derivation  of  name,  i.  101 
Arimatlxea,  supposed  site  of,  i.  29;  Joseph  of, 
i.  30 

Ark  of  the  Hebrews  at  Ekron,  i.  94,  131 ; 
taken  to  Bethshemesh,  i.  103,  132  ;  tri¬ 
umphal  entry  of,  into  Ashdod,  i.  130  ;  sent 
to  Gath,  i.  131 ;  brings  trouble  on  Ekron, 
i.  131 ;  broi  ght  to  Jerusalem,  ii.  39  ;  at 
Kirjatb  Jearim,  ii.  145 
Armenian  monastery,  i  456 
Armr-ur,  glittering,  i.  105 ;  used  by  Arabs,  ii. 
361 

Armour-bearer,  i.  92 
Arnobius,  ii.  209 
Arnun,  hamlet  of,  ii.  390 
Aroer,  ruins  <  f,  i.  265 
Arrabeh,  plain  of,  ii.  245 
Arraneh,  ii.  249 

Arsuf,  Apollonia,  situation  of,  i.  77 ;  ruins  of 
Roman  tunnel  at,  i.  77 
Artflf,  ii.  146,  147 

Asa,  King,  i.  27  ;  dismantles  Rama,  ii.  171 
Asaliel,  l.  167,  429 

Ascalon,  port  destroyed  by  sand,  i.  22 ;  beau¬ 


tified  bv  Herod,  i.  61 ;  rocky  ledge  at,  i. 
61  ;  held  by  Judah,  i.  84  ;  taken  by  He¬ 
brews,  i.  84;  one  of  chief  cities  of  Philis¬ 
tines,  i.  85  ;  temple  of  Derketo  at,  i.  332  ; 
road  to,  i.  188  ;  situation  of,  i.  191 ;  for¬ 
tress,  ancient,  i.  191 ;  charming  appear¬ 
ance  of,  i.  192 ;  fruit  at,  i.  192 ;  famous  for 
onions,  i.  192 ;  abundant  water  at,  i.  192 ; 
ruins  of  cathedral,  i.  192  :  towers  of,  i.  193  ; 
ruins  of  walls, i.  193, 195;  longdistance  seen 
from  walls,  i.  193  ;  taken  bv  Rameses  II.,  i. 
194 — 196  ;  cisterns  at,  i.  194  ;  birthplace  of 
Herod,  i.  194  ;  size  of  ancient  city,  i.  194 ; 
sea-wall  at,  i.  195  ;  no  natural  harbour  at, 
i.  195,  196 ;  various  conquerors  of,  i. 
196 — 198;  rich  soil,  i.  196;  fall  of,  fore¬ 
told  by  Jeremiah,  i.  197  ;  probablv  town 
called,  in  Dan.  i.  197;  beautified  by  Herod, 

i.  198;  slaughter  of  Jews  at,  i.  198;  im¬ 
portance  of,  i.  198 

Ascension,  The,  from  Mount  of  Olives,  ii.  15 
Ashdod,  one  of  chief  cities  of  Philistines,  i. 
85  ;  resort  of  the  remnant  of  the  giants,  i. 
119 ;  road  to,  i.  122 ;  modern  Esdud,  i. 
127 ;  temple  of  Dagon  at,  i.  128 ;  a  town  of 
the  Anakim,  i.  128;  assigned  to  tribe  of 
Judah,  i.  129;  taken  by  Uzziah,  i.  129; 
enemy  of  Israel  in  time  of  Nehemiah,  i. 
129 ;  taken  by  Sargon,  i.  129 ;  on  route 
from  Syria  to  Egypt,  i.  129  ;  population 
led  off,  i.  129  ;  re-peopled,  i.  129 ;  put  under 
Assyrian  governor,  i.  129  ;  rebuilt,  and 
incorporated  into  Assyrian  empire,  i.  129; 
headquarters  of  Dagon  worship,  i.  129; 
impoitant  military  point,  i.  129 ;  trium¬ 
phal  entry  of  Ark  at,  i.  130,  131 ;  Philip 
found  at,  i.  130 ;  given  to  Sa'ome,  i.  130  ; 
destroyed  by  Maccabees,  i.  130 ;  besieged 
by  Psammetichus,  i.  130 ;  fortified  by 
Assyrians,  i.  130;  besieged  for  twenty- 
nine  years,  i.  130  ;  once  mentioned  in  New 
Testament,  i.  130 ;  restored  by  Romans,  i. 
130 ;  called  Azotus  by  Greeks,  i.  130 ; 
Dagon,  idol  of,  prostrate  before  Ark,  i. 
131;  road  from,  i.  135;  parting  from 
friends  at,  i.  136 

Asher,  i.  138  ;  fertility  of,  ii.  296 
Ashes  among  which  Job  sat,  meaning  of,  i. 
156 

Ashkelon,  ii.  141 

Ashtaroth,  or  Astarte,  counterpart  of  Der¬ 
keto,  i.  129 

Asia,  name  given  by  Romans,  i.  83 
“  Asp”  of  Bible, i.  219 

Ass,  driver  riding  on,  i.  17  ;  “carry  riches  on 
shoulders”  of,  i.  88;  used  by  kings,  i. 
369;  only  beast  of  burden,  i.  369,  450;  fre¬ 
quent  allusions  to,  in  Bible,  i.  451 ;  symbol 
of  royalty,  ii.  45 

Asses,  herds  of,  i.  155  ;  in  desert,  i.  451 ;  ii.  6 ; 
legends  of,  i.  450,  451 ;  cutting  off  ear  of, 

ii.  303 

Assur,  forest  of,  i.  75 
Assurnazipal,  tablet  of,  ii.  469 
Assyria,  Men  ahem  of  Samaria  professes 
loyalty  to,  i.  80 

Assyrians,  reference  to  advance  of,  hy  Isaiah, 
i.  74 ;  iron  sway  of,  i.  85  ;  prophecy 
against,  i.  115  ;  carry  away  flocks,  i.  231 
Astarte,  counterpat  t  of  Derketo,  i.  129 
Aswnd,  river,  ii.  493 
Atal,  i.  17,  18 

Athlit,  rums  of,  i.  68  ;  former  landing-place  of 
pilgrims,  i.  68 

Atonement,  Day  of,  festival  on,  ii.  151 
Augustus,  returns  Joppa  to  Jews,  i.  23  ;  hands 
over  Jamnia  to  Herod  the  Great,  i.  90 ; 
makes  allowance  to  poor  citizens,  i.  169; 
temple  in  honour  of,  ii.  234 
Aujeh,  river,  i.  54,  77 ;  strong  stream,  not 


INDEX. 


509 


dammed  by  sand,  i.  80 ;  largest  stream 
in  Sharon,  i.  80 

Avim  driven  south  by  Canaanites,  i.  83  ;  one 
of  original  nations  of  Palestine,  i.  83; 
driven  out  by  Caphtorim,  i.  83 
Awerta,  ii.  207 
Axe,  hewing  with,  i  66 
Azariah,  flight  of,  ii.  245 
Azotus,  see  Ashdod 

Baal-zebub,  god  of  Philistines,  i.  95  ;  worship 
of,  ii.  145 ;  temple  of,  at  Samaria,  ii.  234, 
236  ;  worship  of,  at  Hermon,  ii.  401 
Baalbek,  ii.  440;  temple  of  the  sun,  ii.  442; 

smaller  temple,  ii.  441 ;  rivers  of,  ii.  448 
Baasha  fortifies  Rama,  ii.  171 
Babies  rubbed  with  salt,  i.  154,  note 
Babylon,  return  from,  prophesied,  i.  56  ;  Isaiah 
refers  to,  i.  155 
Baca,  Valley  of,  ii.  195 
Bahurim,  village,  ii.  57 
Bakshish,  ii.  176,  202 

Balaam,  prophecy  of,  concerning  the  star  of 
Jacob,  i.  91 

Bal&ta,  “  Holy  Oak,”  ii.  208,  212 
Balcony  for  muezzin,  i.  5,  35 
Baldness,  sign  of  mourning,  i.  186 
Baldwin’s  Tower,  ii.  196 
Bananas,  orchards  of,  i.  6 
Banias,  castle  of,  David  imagined  to  have 
been  prisoner  in,  i.  125 ;  elevation  of,  i. 
125  ;  cavern  fountain,  ii.  394,  395  ;  castle 
of,  ii.  395 ;  river,  source  of,  ii.  395 ;  beauty 
of,  ii.  396 ;  wonderful  excavations,  ii.  398 
Banus,  the  Hermit,  i.  129 
Baptism  of  Cornelius,  i.  60 
Baptism,  seasons  of,  in  Jordan,  ii.  92,  93 
Baptismal  font,  Bethlehem,  i.  414;  garment, 
ii.  91 

Baptist,  the,  in  wilderness,  ii.  129 
Barada,  see  Abana 

Barak  defeats  Sisera,  ii.  261,  262,  281  ;  native 
of  Kadesh,  ii.  373 
Barbarity  to  strangers,  ii.  389 
Barbary,  houses  in,  i.  165  ;  cheesemaking  in, 
i.  214 

Barcochba  accepted  as  Messiah  by  Rabbi 
Akiba,  i.  91;  meaning  of  name,  i.  91,92; 
insurrection  of,  planned  by  Rabbis,  i.  91  ; 
announces  himself  as  the  star  spoken  of 
by  Balaam,  i.  91 ;  a  fierce  fanatic,  i.  92 ; 
conditions  imposed  on  his  followers,  i. 
92  ;  to  be  the  Redeemer  of  Israel,  i.  92 ; 
followed  by  400,000  men,  i.  92  ;  number 
killed  in  insurrection  of,  i.  92  ;  called  Bar 
Cosiba,  in  consequence  of  failure  in  re¬ 
bellion,  i.  92 ;  capture  of  strong  places 
from  Romans  by,  i.  92  ;  ii.  136,  137 
Bargain-malting,  in  streets,  i.  5;  confirming 
a,  i.  341 ;  i.  459,  536 

Barley,  i.  39;  patches  of,  cultivated  by  pea¬ 
sants,  i.  57;  eaten  by  field  mice,  i.  94; 
fields  of,  i.  142,  145,  153 ;  reaped  first,  i. 
146 

Barley,  taking,  to  Miclimash,  ii.  173 
Barrack,  Turkish,  i.  462 

Basalt  roads  spoken  of  by  Josephus,  i.  37 ; 
frequency  of,  ii.  327 

Bashan,  a  kingdom  of  the  Amorites,  i.  86 
Basilisk,  i.  241 

Basket  of  mats,  i.  5  ;  used  at  miracle  of 
loaves  and  fishes,  i.  329 
Bathing  in  Jordan,  ii.  94 
Baths,  hot,  of  Tiberias,  ii.  321 
Battle-ground  near  Jezreel,  ii.  267 
Bat  used  for  mole-rat,  i.  144 
Bats  frequenting  large  caves,  i.  108 ;  in  cave, 
i.  398 

Bazaar,  Joppa,  i.  13;  at  Caesarea,  i.  61;  at 
Jerusalem,  i.  488 


Beacon,  ii  162,  j.65 

Beads,  making,  at  Bethlehem,  i.  410 

Beans,  i.  159 

Beard,  i.  2 

Bears  at  Bethel,  i.  66 ;  in  Lebanon,  i.  220 
Beasts  brought  into  house,  i.  443 
Beautiful  Gate,  i.  513 

Bedouins,  i.  16 ;  eat  locusts,  i.  79  ;  dress  of,  i. 
87;  haunts  of  wandering,  i.  97;  bloo  l 
feuds  <>f,  i.  167 ;  tents  of,  i.  172,  335 ;  dress 
of,  i.  287  ;  lawless  invasion  by,  ii.  247,  360 ; 
on  Esdraelon,  ii.  247 ;  cattle  owners,  ii. 
314;  encampments,  ii.  358;  piety  of,  ii. 
361 ;  avarice  of,  ii.  361 ;  scorn  education, 
ii.  361 

Beds,  i.  276 

Beelzebub,  Philistine  god,  i.  85  ;  meaning-  of 
name,  i.  95;  in  time  of  Christ,  i.  96; 
reverenced  for  power  to  reveal  the  future, 
i.  96  ;  chitf  of  devils,  i.  96;  great  fame  of 
oracle  of,  i.  96 

Beersheba,  i.  34,  107  ;  road  to,  i.  186,  239  ;  ruins 
of,  i.  252;  court  held  at,  i.  256;  southern 
limit  of  Palestine,  i.  256  ;  origin  of  name, 
i.  256  ;  different  owners  of,  i.  256  ;  limit  of 
Judah,  i.  256 ;  after  captivity,  i.  257 ; 
idolatry  at,  i.  257 ;  country  round,  i.  258 ; 
Roman  garrison  at,  i.  258 ;  bishopric  of, 
i.  258 

Bees  at  Fkron,  i.  93  ;  sound  to  attract  to  hive, 

i.  95 ;  in  carcase  of  liou,  i.  100 ;  storing 
honey  in  carcase  of  wild  beast,  i.  101; 
i  u  hollow  trees  or  clefts  in  rocks,  i.  101 ; 

ii.  177 

Beggar  sleeping  on  dust-heap,  i.  157  ;  blind,  i. 
269 

Beirout,  road  to,  ii.  454;  hotel,  ii.  456;  not 
mentioned  in  Bible,  ii.  457;  situation  of, 
ii.  457  ;  held  by  Crusaders,  ii.  457 ;  climate 
of,  ii.  458  ;  medical  school  at,  ii.  462  ;  Ame¬ 
rican  college,  ii.  462  ;  river,  ii.  467 
Beit  Atab,  ii.  140 
„  Dejan,  i.  28 
,,  Fased,  i.  107 

„  Hanuu,  i.  157 ;  population  thieves,  i. 

158;  situation  of,  i.  158,  270 
„  Jala,  i.  403 

,,  Jibrin,  descent  to,  i.  293 ;  bad  name  of 
people  of,  i.  295  ;  ruins,  i.  299 
,,  Nebala,  probably  Neba'lat  of  Nehemiali, 
i.  42  ;  valleys  near,  i.  43  ;  situation  of, 
i.  43 

,,  Nuban,  ii.  158 

Belfort,  Crusaders’  Castle,  it.  390  ;  view  from, 
ii.  391 

Bellows,  goatskin,  i.  160 

Belus,  glass  discovered  at,  ii.  296 

Bench  used  for  chairs  and  for  sleeping  on,  i. 

70;  clay,  attached  to  wall,  i.  70 
Bene  Berak,  i.  28 
Benhadad  takes  Ijon,  ii.  390 
Benjamin,  hills  of,  i.  65;  tribe  of,  i’  105,  152  ; 
territory  of,  i.  110  ;  of  Turlela,  describes 
cave  of  Machpelali,  i.  337  ;  punishment  of 
tribe  of,  ii.  163 

Benjamites  take  wives  from  Shiloh,  ii.  200 
Berachah,  Valley  of,  i.  374 
Berbers,  butter-making  among,  i.  215 
Bet  Hannina,  ii.  164 
Betliabara,  ii.  257 

Bethany,  load  to,  ii.  40,  41 ;  meaning  of  name 
of,  ii.  42 ;  miserable  condition  of,  ii.  43  ; 
view  from,  ii.  44 
Betliaven,  ii.  188 
Bether,  Roman  siege  of,  i.  92 
Beth  Dagon,  i.  28 

Bethel,  i.  103;  description  of,  ii.  185,  1S9; 
Abraham  at,  ii.  187 ;  route  from,  to  Ai,  in 
185  ;  holy  place,  ii.  188 

Bether,  position  of,  ii.  136 ;  siege  of,  by  Hadrian, 


510 


INDEX. 


ii.  136 ;  size  of,  ii.  136 ;  destruction  of,  ii. 
137  ;  remains  of,  ii.  137 
Bethesda,  Pool  of,  i.  500 
Beth  Hoy  la,  it.  81,  89 

Betli-horon,  rout  of,  i.  96 ;  pass  of,  ii.  180 ; 
Upper  and  Lower,  ascent  to,  ii.  181,  182  ; 
formerly  fortified,  ii.  182 
Bethlehem,  i.  27,  159,  169;  ii.  159;  shepherds 
of,  i.  225;  people  of,  i.  407;  dress  at,  i. 
407—409  ;  a  Christian  town,  i.  408;  shops 
a*-,  i.  409;  description  of,  i.  409;  manu- 
factnres  of,  i.  410 ;  description  of  home  at, 

i.  411 ;  market  at,  i.  411,  412  ;  fruitfulness 
round,  i.  420 ;  meaning  of,  i.  420 ;  view 
from,  i.  430  ;  population  of,  i.  431,  432  ; 
elevation  of,  i.  431 

Bethsaida,  Julias,  ii.  340;  “Ain  Tabghah,” 

ii.  352 

Bethshan,  approach  to,  ii.  255 ;  Beisan,  ii. 
255 ;  former  importance  of,  ii.  256 ; 
Roman  remains  at,  ii.  256' 

Bethshemesh,  fite  of,  i.  103;  meaning  of,  i. 
103 ;  Ark  taken  to,  i.  103,  109,  110 ;  Ark 
sent  from,  i.  131 ;  Ark  restored  to  Hebrews 
at,  i.  132  ;  hill  of,  i.  132  ;  ii.  141,  144 
Bethsur,  ruins  round,  i.  373 
Betrothal,  Eastern,  i.  100 
Bezetha,  ii.  17 

Bible,  a  book  of  intercourse  with  Nature,  i. 
46  ;  illustrations  from  every-day  life  of  the 
people,  i.  46  ;  figures  used  in,  i.  46  ;  com¬ 
mon  illustrations  to  teach  the  highest 
lessons,  i.  47 ;  blood  revenge,  how  far 
sanctioned  in,  i.  168 ;  suited  to  all  races 
of  men,  i.  353  ;  Araldc,  ii.  462 
Bigotry  of  Jerusalem  Jews,  i.  521 
Bildad,  reference  to  lamp  by,  i.  117 
Binder  of  grain,  i.  145 

Birds,  allusion  to,  by  Job,  i.  13 ;  in  cisterns,  i. 
93 ;  fattened  for  table  by  Hebrews,  i. 
160;  at  Jordan,  ii.  86;  of  prey,  ii.  241, 
242,  329,  451 ;  numerous,  ii.  451 
Bireh,  ancknt  Beeroth,  ii.  180 
Birket  el-Mamil!a,  ii.  28 
Bithynia,  i.  31 
Bittir,  village  of,  ii.  135 
Bitumen,  ii.  114,  119,  120 
Blackmail,  Arab,  i.  220 
Black  Prince,  wailiny  for,  i.  177 
Blanche  Garde,  castle  of  the,  i.  117 ;  plains 
round,  i.  121 

Blindness,  causes  of,  i.  269 ;  prevalent  in 
East,  i.  269 ;  refer  ed  to  by  Moses,  i.  269 
Blood,  drawn  by  bites  of  flies,  i.  96;  feud,  i. 
163  ;  revenge  iec<  gnised  as  a  duty,  i.  167  ; 
Bod  as  an  avenyer  of,  i.  167  ;  avengers  of, 

i.  167;  innocent,  cries  for  revenge,  i. 
167 

Blossoms,  orange,  i.  7  ;  almond,  i.  136 
Blouse,  shepherd’s,  i.  103 
Boars,  i.  66  ;  wild,  ii.  355 

Boats  at  Joppa,  i.  2  ;  description  of,  i.  20  ;  Sea 
of  Galilee,  ii.  326 

Boatmen,  dress  of,  ii.  326;  standing  to  row, 

ii.  334 

Boaz,  i.  147,  152.  420,  425—427,  428 
Bogs,  treacherous,  i.  65  ;  frequency  of,  i.  70 ; 
near  Tantureh,  i.  71 

Bones  sent  to  Rome,  i.  22;  found  in  Macca- 
bseau  tomb,  i.  44;  of  Isiaelites  at  Mach- 
pelah,  i.  337 
Books,  Arabic,  ii.  461 
Bottles,  of  skin,  i.  80,  81,  286,  287 
Boulder-*  piled  up  by  torrent,  i.  1 24 
Boys,  pride  in,  i.  155  ;  carried  on  shoulders,  i. 

155  ;  dress  of,  i.  183 
Rczez  and  Geneh,  ii.  174 
Bramble,  he  Ige,  i.  6 
Branches,  house  roofed  with,  i.  70 
Bi  azier,  i.  17  ;  for  beating,  ii.  60 


Bread,  i.  17,  159 ;  unleavened,  i.  80 ;  in  Ger¬ 
man  colony,  i.  8L 

Bricks,  sun-dried,  i.  51,  52  ;  made  with  straw, 
i.  51,  88 ;  wood  used  with,  i.  51 ;  decay 
of,  i.  52 

Bride  and  bridegroom,  crowning  of,  i.  101 
Bridge,  remains  of  Crusading,  i.  68;  foot, 
over  swamp,  i.  68 ;  over  Rubin,  i.  89 ;  at 
Temple,  i.  516 ;  to  Temple  Hill,  ii.  5—7 
Brook  Cherith,  ii.  68 
Broom,  ropes  made  of,  i.  135 
Buckets  for  water-wheel,  i.  7,  8 
Buffaloes,  i.  57 ;  ii.  339,  3S0,  382,  384 ;  plough¬ 
ing  with,  ii.  382 

Burberah,  village,  i.  144  ;  sand  dunes  at,  i.  145 ; 
pond  at,  i.  154 

Burckhardt,  eating  of  locusts  described  by, 
i.  79 

Burden,  “heavy  and  grievous  to  be  borne,*' 
i.  18 

Bureir,  i.  274 

Burial-ground  at  Joppa.,  i.  10 
Burials,  Eastern,  i.  541 
Burka,  ii.  241 

Butter,  i.  80  ;  in  German  colony,  i.  81 ;  making 
among  Berbers,  i.  215 

Cabin,  i.  24,  309 ;  ii.  378 

Cactus,  hedges  of,  i.  6,  35,  136,  249,  253 ;  ii. 
466 

Cadi,  the,  administers  justice,  i.  21 
Cadiz,  i.  z2 

Caesarea,  i.  32 ;  track  to,  i.  39  ;  Paul  at,  i.  51, 
60 ;  Roman  road  from,  to  Jerusalem,  i. 
54 ;  and  the  early  Chnrch,  i.  59  ;  ruins  of, 
i.  59,  63  ;  home  of  Philip  the  Evangelist, 
i.  60 ;  called  after  Augustus,  i.  61 ;  built 
bv  Herod  the  Great,  i.  61 ;  harbour  of,  i. 
62,  64;  extent  of,  i.  62;  rebuilt,  i.  63; 
Greeks  and  Jews  in,  i.  63;  Origen  41, 

i.  63;  Christian  bishop  of,  i.  63;  Euse¬ 
bius,  bishop  of,  i.  63  ;  desolation  of,  i. 
64  ;  overrun  with  sand,  i.  64 ;  prosperity 
depended  on  artificial  sources,  i.  64  ;  ruins 
of  church,  i.  64;  walls  of,  destroyed  by 
Sultan  Bibars,  i.  64  ;  foundations  of  Cru¬ 
saders’  Cathedral,  i.  64 ;  fragments  of 
Middle-Age  walls,  i.  64;  once  famous  for 
fruit,  i.  64 ;  trees  near,  i.  65  ;  water  supply 
of,  i.  67;  ride  from,  to  Carmel,  i.  68; 
drained  by  Herod,  i.  331 

Caesarea  Philippi,  road  to,  ii.  393;  origin  of 
name,  ii.  395  ;  appearance  of,  ii.  396  ;  called 
Neronias,  ii.  399  ;  prisoners  fight  in  circus, 

ii.  457 

Cafd,  description  of,  at  Joppa,  i.  16 
Cain,  supposed  grave  of,  ii.  422 
Cairn  erected  over  dead,  i.  259;  ii.  4;  raised 
by  Joshua,  ii.  179 
Cairo,  Virgin’s  Tree  near,  i.  8,  169 
Cakes,  making  of,  i.  283 ;  “  on  the  hearth,”  ii. 
128 

C41f,  “  the  fatted,”  i.  283,  284 
Callirrhoe.  baths  of,  i.  38*  ;  ii.  14 
Calvary,  Mount,  chapels  on,  i.  485  ;  ii.  20,  21,  25 
Camels,  neglected  condition  of,  i.  13;  tied  to 
each  other,  i.  17;  laden,  i.  72,  80,  82,  88, 
155 ;  ii.  245  ;  Bedouin  seated  on  hump  of, 
i.  87  ;  “  carry  treasures  on  bunches  of,”  i. 
88  ;  body  of,  dried  by  summer  heat,  i. 
101  ;  skull  of,  used  by  hornets  to  make 
nest  in,  i.  101 ;  seeking  pasture,  i.  112 ; 
working  water-wheel,  i.  128 ;  ploughing 
with,  i.  136;  string  of,  laden  with  “bun- 
del,”  i.  143  ;  loading,  i.  116  ;  heavy  burdens 
of,  i.  146  ;  herds  of,  i.  155;  gait  of,  ii.  494 
Camping  at  Merom,  ii.  374 
Cana  <  f  Galilee,  ii.  302,  305 
Canaan.  ea>  ly  people  of,  i.  83  ;  fruitful  plains 
of,  i.  84 


INDEX. 


511 


Canaanites,  cisterns  of,  i.  27 ;  tombs  of,  i.  48  ; 
towns  of,  destroyed,  i.  52  ;  probably  used 
sun-dried  bricks,  i.  52  ;  could  not  be  driven 
out  of  land,  i.  69;  pay  tribute  to  trite 
of  Manasseb,  i.  69  ;  meaning  of  word,  i. 
86  ;  races,  Amorites  greatest  of.  i.  86  ;  city 
of  Gezer,  i.  97  ;  routed  by  Joshua,  ii.  372 
Canals  for  ir deration,  i.  7,  8 
Candidates,  Missionary,  at  Beirout,  ii.  464 
Candlesticks,  seven-branched,  i.  162 
Cane-brake,  i.  68 
Canes,  i.  55 

Cape  of  Good  Hope,  passage  by,  i.  128  ;  route 
to  India  by,  ii.  423 

Capernaum,  possible  site  of,  ii.  339,  343,  317 
Capbar,  or  Keir,  meaning  of,  i.  67 
Caphar  Saba,  region  round  Ras-el-Ain,  i.  55 ; 
village  of,  i.  67 

Caphtor,  ancient  name  of  Crete,  i.  83;  exodus 
of  Philistines  from.  i.  525 
Capitals,  sculptured,  i.  70 
Carav  an  road,  i.  38,  84,  128,  159,  185;  ii.  91, 
191,  290,  405,  391,  423 
Caravanserai,  i.  168 ;  ii.  67 
Carchemish,  i.  185 

Carmel,  cliffs  of,  i.  35  ;  springs  near,  i.  63 ; 
hills  of,  i.  64;  ft  anted  growth  on,  i.  65; 
from  Caesarea  to,  i.  68 ;  symbolical  of  fer- 
tility,  i.  76  ;  ii.  291 ;  northern  boundary  of 
Sharon,  i.  76  ;  David’s  dispute  with  Nabal 
at,  i.  348  ;  ruins  of,  i.  349,  350  ;  fertility 
round,  ii.  290 ;  used  as  sacred  emblems, 
ii.  291 ;  altar  on,  ii.  292 ;  rich  hollows  of, 
ii.  293 

Carmelite  monastery,  ii.  294 
Carob,  or  locust-tree,  i.  77  ;  ii.  139,  206 
Carpenters,  at  Nazareth,  ii.  274 
Carpet-weaving,  i.  305 

Carts,  absence  of,  i.  18  ;  used  for  harvesting, 
i.  146,  note 

Carved  images,  words  for.  ii.  96 
Casement,  watcher  at,  i.  11 
Casluchim,  Philistines  once  settled  there, 
i.  84 

Cassiotis,  in  territory  of  Casluchim,  i.  8 1,  423 
Castles — Miral  el,  i.  55  ;  mediaeval,  at  Caesarea, 
i.  63;  Blanche  Garde,  of  Crusaders,  i. 
117;  at  Banias,  i.  125;  ii.  70;  Cru-aders’, 
at  Safed,  ii.  334  ;  at  Caesarea  Philippi,  ii. 
398 

Cathedral  ruins,  Tyre,  ii.  498 
Cattle,  large  herds  <  f  King  Uzziah,  i.  27; 
stabled  in  cave,  i.  108  ;  driven  afield  in 
earlv  morning,  i.  117  ;  large  numbers  of, 
i.  136;  herds  of,  i.  155;  knowing  their 
stalls,  i.  157;  opening  stable  doors  with 
their  horns,  i.  157  ;  thrive  on  Sharon,  i. 
224 ;  Palestine  not  suited  for,  i.  230 ; 
tending,  i.  239  ;  charms  hung  on,  i.  255; 
owned  by  Bedouin,  ii.  314;  Arab,  ii.  331; 
condition  oF,  ii.  455 

Cave,  description  of  inhabited,  i.  108;  her¬ 
mit’s,  i.  261 ;  used  as  church,  i.  261 ; 
dwellings,  i.  264,  265;  dwellers,  i.  323; 
hot-air,  ii.  322 

Cavern — artificial,  i.  299,  300 — 305;  possible 
uses  of,  i.  300,  301  ;  of  the  Agony,  ii.  9 ;  at 
Etam,  ii.  142 

Caves — at  Timnath,  i.  ICO  ;  used  as  dwell¬ 
ings,  i.  108;  used  for  sheepfold s,  i.  222; 
uses  of,  i.  396,  397,  418;  under  Mosque 
of  Omar,  i.  506  ;  numerous  round  Irbid,  ii. 
330;  Beirout,  ii.  474 

Cedar  of  Lebanon,  i.  50;  ii.  450;  wood  <  f,  i. 

135  ;  vast  quantities  used,  ii.  450 
Cpdars  in  Samuria,  i.  135 
Ceiling,  canvas,  i.  70 

Cement,  cisterns  coated  with,  i.  27  ;  making, 
i.  238 

Cemetery  at  Eamleh,  i.  35  ;  at  El-Mejdel,  i. 


137  ;  at  Gaza,  i.  175,  184;  disc  verbs  in 
English,  Jerusalem,  i.  537,54);  Moham¬ 
medan,  ii.  15,  2',  28;  Jewish,  time  of 
Christ,  ii.  20;  tents  pitched  in,  ii.  213 
Centipede,  ii.  3f8 
Centre  of  the  world,  i.  482 
Chaff,  i.  148  ;  burnt,  i.  151 
Chains,  Jaman  bound  with,  i.  130;  streets 
barred  by,  i.  164 

Chaldsea,  Dag  on  worship  received  through,  by 
Philistiues,  i.  129 

Chaldaeans,  Oaza  overthrown  by,  i.  185;  as¬ 
semble  prisoners  ut  Kama,  ii.  171 
Chambers  in  ruined  khan,  i.  123 
Channels,  in  summer,  i.  125  ;  worn  by  winter 
torrents,  i.  57 

Chapel  of  Nativity,  Bethbhem,  i.  416,  417; 
of  Holy  Sepulchre,  i.  475,  482;  of  Finding 
of  the  Cross,  i.  484;  of  the  Tomb  of  the 
Virgin,  ii.  6,  8,  9 
Chapels  at  Mar-saba,  ii.  125 
Cbarcoal,  i.  2  ),  60 ;  burners,  i.  65  ;  ii.  138  ;  used 
for  cooking,  i.  70 

Chariots,  Canaa'  ites’,  i.  35;  no  lev<  1  ground 
for  their  use,  i.  36  ;  burned  by  Joshua,  i. 
37  ;  of  Solomon,  i.  36  ;  ii.  372  ;  Philistines’, 
ii.  250 

Chariot-road,  ancient,  i.  69 
Chariton,  St.,  hermit,  i.  395 
Charitj',  curious,  ii.  56 
Charms,  i.  254,  255 

Chedorlaomer  attacked,  ii.  116,  119;  surprised 
by  Abrahnm,  ii.  387;  HigLt  of,  ii.  406 
Cheese,  description  of,  i.  158,  159;  mixed  with 
water  to  drink,  i.  214 ;  cakes,  i.  214 ;  making 
in  Barbary,  i.  214 ;  carried  by  David  to 
Saul’s  camp,  i.  215 

Cheesemakers’  Valley,  i.  497,  515,  548 
Chemosh,  sacrifices  to,  ii.  14 
Cheta,  a  mighty  nation,  i.  86  ;  extent  of  terri¬ 
tory,  i.  86  ;  at  Hebron,  i.  86 
Chickens  alluded  to  by  Christ,  i.  161 ;  Indian 
birds,  i.  161;  symbols  of  deity,  i.  161; 
noticed  in  New  Testament,  i.  161 ;  most 
common  animal  food,  i.  367 
Chief  of  fighting  men,  i.  84 
Child,  carried  on  back,  i.  253;  of  “bond- 
woman,”  i.  290  , 

Children  carried  on  the  shoulder,  i.  87,  154; 
carried  on  hip,  i.  87  ;  shaving  heads  of,  i. 
181  ;  mortality  of,  i.  182  ;  weaning  of,  i.  211 
Chill  <  f  early  morning  and  night,  i.  93 
Chimliam,  i.  169 

Chimney,  i.  20;  absence  of,  ii.  139,  192 
Choirs  in  sinking  robes,  i.  131 
Choraziu,  ruins  of,  ii.  357,  358;  volcanic  re¬ 
mains  in  wady,  ii.  354 

Christ,  l.  18;  birth  of,  four  years  before  our 
Anno  Domini  1,  i.  32,  note ;  multitude 
wished  to  make  king,  i.  92  ;  finally  re¬ 
jected,  i.  93;  speaks  of  whited  sepulchre, 
i.  99  ;  alhides  to  an  untain  torrents,  i.  124  ; 
receiving  water  during  His  journey- 
ings,  i.  143 ;  entering  Jerusalem,  i. 
203  ;  refers  to  flock  of  sin  ep  and  goats, 
i.  224;  teaching  at  Solomon’s  porch, 

i.  513 ;  scei  e  of  arrest  of,  ii.  7  ;  probably 
led  through  Damascus  Gate,  ii.  26;  fre¬ 
quent  visits  of  to  Bethany,  ii .  43,  44;  last 
journey  to  Jerusalem,  ii.  44,  45  ;  weeping 
over  Jerusalem,  ii.  47  ;  at  Khan  Hathrur, 

ii.  67  ;  baptism  of,  ii.  88,  91  ;  allusion  to 
“cock-crowing,”  ii.  193;  civil  g  sight  to 
blind,  ii.  201;  at  Well  of  Samaria,  ii.  211 ; 
reveals  Himself  after  His  resurrection,  ii. 
3i3;  lonely  devotions  of,  ii.  313;  preach¬ 
ing  at  Sea  of  Galilee,  ii.  333 ;  healing  smk, 
ii  333 ;  in  land  of  Gennesa  etli,  ii.  3:  3 ; 
miracles  of  in  Coe  area  fhil'ppi,  ii.  396; 
visits  Tyre  and  Sidon,  ii.  478 


512 


INDEX. 


Chri-tian  villages,!  406;  street,  i.  473;  king¬ 
dom,  destruction  of,  in  Palestine,  ii.  310, 
311  ;  quarter,  Damascus,  ii.  429 
Christianity,  early  spread  of,  ii.  446 
Christians,  early,  at  Joppa,  i.  32  ;  industry  of, 
ii.  27;  meaning  attached  by,  to  name  of 
Beelzebub,  i.  96  ;  opinion  of,  on  Red  Sea, 
ii.  ^2 ;  fet  til  ty  of  land  under,  ii.  133 ;  at 
Nablus,  ii.  215 ;  massacre  of  in  Lebanon, 
ii.  401,  402 

Church,  former  reputed,  at  Yazur,  i.  28 ;  of 
Sr.  George,  at  Lydda,  partly  used  as  a 
Greek  church,  partly  a-i  court  of  mosque, 

i.  31,  34;  of  Crusaders  at  Ramleh,  i.  33; 
“  of  the  Maccabsean  Brothers,”  i.  43 ; 
Crusading,  at  Athlit,  i.  69  ;  built  ou  site 
of  Temple,  i.  163 ;  of  St,  Ann,  i.  303,  304 ; 
of  the  Nativity,  Bethlehem,  i.  407,  412 — 
415;  of  Holy  Sepulchre,  i.  471,  473—  475  ; 
Turkish  guard  in,  i.  474  ;  date  of  rebuild¬ 
ing,  i.  474  ;  English,  Jerusalem,  i.  534  ; 
on  Mount  Zion,  i.  543  ;  at  Siloam,  i.  550, 
553;  of  the  Ascension,  ii.  11,  20;  at 
Beeroth,  ii.  191  ;  at  f-amaria,  ii.  232,  233  ; 
on  Mount  'labor,  ii.  2V2;  at  Sepphoris,  ii. 
304  ;  Franciscan,  at  Cana,  ii.  3i6;  Arabic, 

ii.  463 

Circumcision  at  Gilgal,  i.  48,  92 
Circus,  games  celebrated  in,  i.  63 
Cisterns,  ground  honeycombed  with,  i.  26; 
under  houses  to  collect  rain-water,  i.  26, 
27,  33,  57,  122,  237  ;  ii.  145  ;  walled,  i.  27  ; 
mouth  of,  covered  with  stone,  i.  27  ;  anti¬ 
quity  of,  i.  27,  33  ;  great  size  of,  i.  27,  33  ; 
shape  of,  i.  27  ;  hewn,  i.  27,  58,  100 ;  in¬ 
scriptions  on,  i.  33;  underground,  i.  43, 
53  ;  rain,  i.  44  ;  ancient,  near  Tibneh,  i. 
47  ;  mentioned  before  Hebrew  invasion,  i. 
49 ;  underground,  frequent  mention  of, 
in  Old  Testament,  i.  49 ;  empty,  i.  93 ; 
broken,  i.  112;  numbers  found  in  village 
near  Dead  Sea,  i.  153;  of  men  of  Shiloh, 

i.  153;  covered  with  soil  to  prevent  dis¬ 
covery,  i.  153  ;  underground,  still  very  nu¬ 
merous,  i.  153  ;  plundered  by  Arabs,  i.  153  ; 
ancient,  at  Gaza,  i.  169;  at  Ascalon,  built 
by  Crusaders,  i.  194;  made  by  TTzziah,  i. 
272;  hiding  mouths  of,  i.  275;  under  Tem¬ 
ple  enclosure,  i.  503  ;  hiding  in,  i.  557  ;  in 
quarry,  ii.  19 ;  bottle-shaped,  ii.  32 ;  dif¬ 
ferent  kinds,  ii.  33;  making  liewn,  ii.  33; 
Tell  Jefat,  ii.  3U2 

Cistus,  thought  by  some  to  be  “Rose  of 
Sharon,”  i.  40 

Citadel  on  promontory  at  Athlit,  i.  69  ;  at 
Jerusalem,  i.  462  ;  a1'  Sidon,  ii.  479 
Cities,  mat  y  rebuilt  or  founded  under  Ernpe- 
ro»s,  i.  61 ,  chief,  of  Philistines,  i.  85  :  of 
the  Plain,  site  of,  ii.  118,  119  ;  of  Gentiles. 

ii.  301 

Citrons  brought  to  Palestine,  ii.  483 

City  of  Refuge,  i.  167  ;  of  cisterns,  i.  263 

Civil  V\  ars,  i.  61 

Clav  for  brick-,  i.  52 

Clefts,  or  narrow  streets,  i.  13 

Cleopatra,  i.  23 

Cliffs,  limestone,  i.  113  ;  of  Wady  Kelt,  ii.  69 
Climate  of  Palestine,  ii.  57  ;  in  foi’mer  clays, 
ii.  110  ;  at  Damascus,  ii.  428  ;  influence  of 
on  vegetation,  ii.  501 
Cloaks,  sheepskin,  i.  93 

Cloth  for  abbas  woven  at  Gaza,  i.  169  ;  for 
tents,  i.  172  ;  rich,  made  by  Hebrews,  i.  172 
Clothes  of  shipwieclo  d  per  ons  hung  in 
temple,  i.  133;  of  women  and  children,  i. 
293  ;  sleeping  in,  ii.  83 
Clot i  ing  made  by  women,  i  171 
Clouds,  reference  to,  by  Ho-ea,  i.  73;  snow- 
white,  i.  73  ;  morning,  i.  73 
Club,  shepherd’s,  i.  218 


“  Club-bearers,”  tribe  of  Arabs,  i.  58 
Coat  worn  by  driver,  i.  82 
Cobblers,  at  Joppa,  i.  17 
Co'  les,  flat-bottomed,  i.  2 
Cobra,  the,  i.  242,  243 
Cockatrice,  the,  i.  241 

“  Cock-crowing,”  allusion  to,  by  Christ,  ii.  193 
Coffee-berries,  roasting,  i.  70 
Coffin,  lead,  found  at  Gaza,  i.  183 
Cohort,  Italian,  of  Cornelius,  i.  59 
Coin  worn  on  hair,  i.  496 

Coins  worn  as  ornaments,  ii.  274  ;  discovery 
of  Macedonian,  ii.  484  ;  ancient,  ii.  434 
College,  American,  Beirout,  ii.  464 
Colonies  of  Tyre,  ii.  500 

Colony,  Jewish  agricultural,  i.  28;  German, 
i.  81 

Colporteur,  description  of  a,  i.  268 

Commentaries,  Jewish,  i.  41 

Commerce,  northern  port,  necessitated  by, 

i.  61 ;  of  Sea  of  Galilee  in  former  times, 

ii.  325 

Conduit  for  water  at  Caesarea,  i.  62 
Coney,  the,  ii.  90 

Constantine  builds  Church  of  the  Nativity,  i. 
412,  414;  builds  Church  of  the  Holy  Se¬ 
pulchre,  i.  48  5 

Constantinople,  i.  18,  163  ;  bridge  of  boats  at, 
i.  120 

Contempt,  stones  thrown  on  graves  in,  ii.  422 
Contracts  between  Arabs,  i.  256 
Convent  used  as  caravanserai,  i.  168  ;  of  Holy 
Cross,  ii.  133 

Conveyances,  wheeled,  absence  of,  in  Pales¬ 
tine,  i.  18 

Cook-shop,  at  Joppa,  i.  17 
Cooking,  oil  used  f<  >r,  i.  139 
“  Cool  of  the  day,”  in  Hebrew,  i.  150 
Copts,  chapel  of,  i.  482;  marriage  among,  ii. 
336 

Com,  valleys  waving  with,  i.  30  ;  Indian,  i.  70  ; 
eaten  by  field  mice,  i.  94 ;  towards  har¬ 
vest  very  infh  mmable,  i.  102 ;  stored  in 
excavations  made  in  dust-heaps,  i.  157  ; 
cried,  i.  159  ;  parched,  i.  422  ;  grinding,  ii. 
161 

Cornelius  the  centurion,  i.  59  ;  baptism  of, 
i.  60 

Cornfields  near  Tell  el  Jezer,  i.  97 

Cotnlands,  i.  93,  131 

Costume,  varieties  of,  at  Joppa,  i.  2 

Cotton  Gi  otto  at  Jerusalem,  ii.  16 — 19,  76 

Council  of  Abimelech,  i.  84 ;  hall,  i.  526 

Courtship,  Oriental,  description  of,  i.  100 

Courtyard  of  house,  i.  116 

Cousins,  right  of  men  to  man  y,  i.  443 

Cowhouses,  st"ne,  ii.  381,  382 

Cows  yoke  l  to  cait  bearing  Ark,  i.  131,  132 

Craftsman’s  Plain,  i.  29 

Crete,  island  of,  i.  83 ;  emigration  of  Philis¬ 
tines  from,  i.  84,  86  ;  their  residence  in, 
i.  85 

Cretlii  and  Plethi,  the,  i.  85,  524 
Crimean  War,  the,  i.  474 
Crocodile,  the,  i.  66,  68 

Crops,  i.  240;  on  the  Jordan  Plain,  ii.  76,  77 ; 
variety  of,  near  Bethshemesli,  ii.  146  ■  on 
Esdraelon,  ii.  248;  yield  of,  ii.  303;  in 
marsh  land,  ii.  384  ;  in  Beirout,  ii.  456 
Crown  of  thorns,  tbe,  ii.  72 
Crucifixion,  the,  i.  32;  arrangement  of  cross, 
i.  484  ;  site  of  the,  ii.  22 
Crusaders,  tbeir  fleet,  i.  4  ;  Joppa  under,  i.  24 ; 
church  at  Lydda,  i.  32;  energy  displayed  in 
building  churches,  i.  34,  507 ;  castle  of 
Mirabel,  i.  55;  rebuilt  Caesarea,  i.  63; 
expenditure  of,  in  buildings,  i.  69  ;  fort¬ 
ress  of,  i.  70 :  castle  of,  i.  117  ;  rule  of,  in 
Palestine,  i.  349  ;  writing  names  in  Church 
of  Nativity,  i.  413;  ruins  of  building  of. 


INDEX. 


513 


ii.  19 ;  Christian  kingdom  of,  ii.  195 ;  en¬ 
thusiasm  of,  ii.  196 ;  legend  concerning, 
ii.  250  ;  hold  Beirout,  ii.  457  ;  castle  of  at 
Tyre,  ii.  498 
Cucumbers,  i.  151 
Cufic  inscriptions,  i.  33 

Cultivation,  extent  of,  i.  57 ;  signs  of,  i.  261 ; 
at  Bureir,  i.  275  ;  in  Jordan  Valley,  ii.  76  ; 
at  Deir  Dewau,  ii.  179  ;  ii.  400 
“  Cup  of  cold  water,”  i.  143,  310 
Current,  sen,  on  coast  of  Palestine,  i,  22; 
of  the  Zerka,  i.  68 

Cursing  among  Orientals,  i.  332  ;  ii.  308 
Customs,  permanence  of  in  the  East,  i.  88, 
283;  mixture  of  Eastern  and  Western,  ii. 
453 

Custom-House  at  Joppa,  i.  4 
Cylinders  for  air,  i.  467 
Cypress  from  Lebanon,  i.  50 
Cyril,  Bishop  of  Jerusalem,  i.  483 

Dagon,  i.  28,  129;  temple  of,  at  Ashdod,  i.  128; 
symbol  of  reproductive  power  of  nature, 
i.  129  ;  union  of  human  and  fish  forms  in, 
associated  with  idea  of  fecundity,  i.  129  ; 
worship  of,  got  by  Philistines  from  Phoe¬ 
nicians,  i.  129  ;  originally  worshipped  on 
shores  of  Per-ian  Gulf,  i.  129;  Assyrio- 
Babvloniau  deity,  i.  129 ;  national  god  of 
Philistines,  i.  129  ;  hands  and  head  of, 
Bing  on  threshold  of  temple,  i.  131 ;  pros¬ 
trate  before  the  Ark,  i.  131 ;  Ark  borne  to 
temple  of,  i.  131 ;  house  of,  i.  164,  165 
Dam  built  across  Zerka,  i.  66,  68 
Damascus,  defeat  of  King  of,  i.  36  ;  horse  mar¬ 
ket  of,  i.  38 ;  lion  brought  to,  i.  101 ;  Ha- 
zael,  King  of,  i.  120;  King  of,  tortures 
people  of  Gilead,  i.  149;  exporting  horses 
to  Egypt,  i.  155, 170 ;  great  centre  for  wool, 

i.  231  ;  road  to,  ii.  413 ;  antiquity  of,  ii.  413, 
432;  strange  plateau  round,  ii.  414;  charm 
of,  after  desert,  ii.  417  ;  apparent  neglect, 

ii.  418  ;  street  scenes,  ii.  418  ;  condition 
of  streets,  ii.  419 ;  poor  appearance  of, 
ii.  419  ;  mud  buildings,  ii.  419 ;  trades¬ 
men,  ii.  420 ;  craftsmen  of,  carried  away, 
ii.  423;  centre  of  caravan  trade,  ii.  423; 
Western  competition  in,  ii.  423  ;  various 
headgears,  ii.  424  ;  numerous  races  met  in, 

11.  4l4  ;  fertility  round,  ii.  426  ;  impression 
made  by,  on  desert  peoples,  ii.  426  ;  popu¬ 
lation  of,  ii.  427  ;  ancient  system  of  irri¬ 
gation,  ii.  4-7  ;  scarcity  of  fuel,  ii.  428  ; 
climate,  ii.  428,  435;  home  of  wealthy 
Jew,  ii.  4-8  ;  extreme  uncleanness,  ii.  428  ; 
Christian  quarter,  ii.  429 ;  massacre  of 
Christians,  ii.  429;  grand  mosque,  ii.  430; 
sieges  of,  &c.,  ii.  432  ;  missions  in,  ii.  433  ; 
mosques  in,  ii.  434;  gardens  of,  ii.  434; 
view  of,  ii.  434;  climate  of,  ii.  435;  fruit 
of,  ii.  435;  insects  in,  ii.  435 

Damascus  Gate  at  Jerusalem,  i.  497,  528 ;  ii. 

12,  16,  52,  156  :  description  of,  ii.  25,  26 ; 
view  from.  ii.  25,  26  ;  Paul  led  through,  ii. 
26 ;  Christ  led  through,  ii.  26;  excavations 
at,  ri.  26 

Daman,  ii.  300,  301 

Dan,  i.  28,  29  ;  tribe  of,  i.  90  ;  Ekron  assigned 
to,  i.  93 ;  Samson  from  tribe  of,  i.  103 ; 
l;kened  to  serpent,  i.  247 ;  ruins  of  city  of, 
ii.  386;  possible  site  of  citadel,  ii.  386; 
golden  calves  at,  ii.  390 
Dancing  at  marriage  feasts,  i.  101 ;  each  sex 
alone,  i.  217 

Daniel,  prophecy  of,  i.  232 
Date-palm,  the,  i.  206 
Dates,  i.  159 ;  ripen  late,  i.  146 
David,  his  conflict  with  Goliath,  i.  10,  98, 
105,  106,  435;  breaks  power  of  Philistines, 
i,  85 ;  forms  bodyguard  of  Philistines,  i. 


85 ;  scene  of  incidents  in  life  of,  i.  93, 
105;  gathers  band  at  Adullam,  i.  108; 
in  cave,  i.  109,  110;  x*escues  Keilah,  i. 
109 ;  resides  at  Gath,  i.  110 ;  flees  to 
Hareth,  i.  110;  escapes  from  Keilah,  i. 
Ill;  strength  and  fleetness  of,  i.  Ill; 
compares  fate  of  his  enemies  to  fire  of 
thorns,  i.  114;  fame  of  among  Hebrews, 
i.  119;  reception  by  Philistine  king,  i. 
119;  feigns  insanity,  i.  120;  unhappy  po¬ 
sition  of,  at  Gath,  i.  120  ;  conquers 
Gath.  i.  120 ;  second  flight  to  Gath, 
i.  121  ;  welcomed  by  Achish,  i.  121 ; 
believed  to  have  been  a  prisoner  in  Castle 
Bamas.  i.  125;  allusion  of  to  dashing  of 
water,  i.  125  ;  allusiou  to  “  water-brooks” 
by,  i.  125;  appoints  overseers,  i.  135,  139; 
pictures  his  future  prosperity  by  the 
olive-tree,  i.  138;  allunes  to  shoots  of 
olive-trees,  i.  141  ;  causes  Ammonite 
prisoners  to  be  ridden  over  with  thresh¬ 
ing-sledge,  i.  149  ;  alludes  to  Ascalon,  i. 
197 ;  refers  to  torrent-bed,  i.  215 ;  singer, 
i.  226  ;  saved  from  Saul  by  Michal,  i.  233 ; 
alludes  to  skin  bottle,  i.  286;  at  Hebron,  i. 
3 12,  343;  in  laud  of  Horites,  i.  346; 
wanderings  of  in  Negeb,  i.  356 ;  covenant 
with  Jonathan,  i.  357;  hiding-places  of, 
i.  358,  359;  flees  to  Hachilab,  i.  359; 
flees  to  Hamablekoth,  i.  359  ;  interview 
of,  with  Saul,  i.  359 ;  in  Saul's  camp, 

i.  359  ;  hides  from  Saul,  i.  390  ;  the 
shepherd,  i.  403;  at  Bethlehem,  i.  428; 
circle  of  scenes  in  early  life,  i.  435;  the 
poet,  i.  452;  tower  of,  i.  465,  466;  street 
of,  i.  471,  472  ;  palace  of,  i.  505 ;  sings  of 
Temple,  i.  509  ;  tomb  of,  i.  525 ;  tower  of,  i. 
467 ;  reference  to  springs,  ii.  31 ;  brings 
Ark  to  Jerusalem,  ii.  39  ;  flight  of  from 
Absalom,  ii.  66;  invited  to  return  to  Jeru¬ 
salem,  ii.  95;  hides  at  Engedi,  ii.  116; 
flight  of,  to  Nob,  ii.  158;  laments  for  Saul 
and  Jonathan,  ii.  249 

Day  of  Atonement,  festival  on,  ii.  151 
Dead,  offerings  to,  i.  259 ;  ii.  367 ;  defilement 
from,  ii.  56 

Dead  Sea,  i.  73,  153:  thoughts  at,  ii.  105; 
colour  of  water,  ii.  105  j  vegetation  near, 

ii.  106;  shores  of,  ii.  106;  bathing  in,  ii. 
107  ;  proportion  of  salt  in,  ii.  107 ;  size  of, 
i.  107  ;  water  flowing  into,  ii.  108  ;  absence 
of  life  in  water,  ii.  108 :  living  things 
round,  ii.  108;  geological  formation  of 
bed,  &c.,  ii.  109,  110;  evaporation  of,  ii. 
109;  depth  of,  ii.  108,  109;  gradual  shrink¬ 
ing  of,  ii.  112;  bitumen  round,  ii.  114, 
119,  120  ;  view  of,  ii.  114  ;  slight  vegetation 
at,  ii.  121 ;  excessive  silence  at,  ii.  121 

Death,  defiling  presence  of,  i.  99 
Debir,  i.  360 ;  “  Book  Town,”  “  Town  of  Learn¬ 
ing,  i.  361,  362 

Deborah,  defeat  of  Sisera  by,  i.  11 ;  i.  37 ;  ii.  261, 
263  ;  a  judge,  i.  207,  213 
Decapolis,  ii.  351 
“  Deceitful  brook,”  ii.  146 
Decius,  persecution  under,  i.  396 
Defences  of  Caesarea,  i.  64 
Defilement,  ceremonial,  i.  45 
Deification  of  the  emperor,  i.  60 
Deir  Aban,  village  of,  ii.  140 
Deir  Dewan,  ii.  178 

Deir  Esh  Sheikh,  fertility  of,  ii.  139,  141 ; 

torrent  at,  ii.  140 
Deir  Sineid,  village  of,  i.  15.5,  156 
Delta,  ports  of  the  Nile,  i.  84,  130,  note 
Demoniacs,  supposed  scene  of  cure  of  the,  ii. 
350,  351 

Derketo,  Philistine  goddess,  i.  85,201  ;  female 
complement  of  Dagon,  i.  129  ;  counterpart 
of  Astarte  or  Astliaroth,  i.  129;  disease 


514 


INDEX. 


inflicted  on  women  for  robbing  temple  of, 
i.  132  ;  temple  of,  i.  198,  197 
Dervishes,  i.  243  ;  monastery  of,  ii.  11 
Deserf,  caravans  over,  i.  159 ;  protection 
afforded  by,  i.  185 

Desolation  round  El  Falik,  i.  77 ;  on  way  be¬ 
tween  Hebron  and  Jerusalem,  i.  375  ;  near 
Beit  Atab,  ii.  140 

Destruction  of  Cities  of  the  Plain,  ii.  119 
Dew,  peculiarity  of,  in  Palestine,  i.  72;  to 
Israelites  a  mysterious  gift  of  heaven,  i. 
73;  compared  to  favour  of  kiug,  i.  74; 
wrung  from  Gideon’s  fleece,  i.  74  ;  falling, 
used  as  irmge  byHushai  to  Absalom,  i. 
74 ;  absence  of,  a  sign  of  Diviue  wrath,  i. 
74 ;  favour  of  Jehovah  compared  to,  i.  75 
Dhaheriyeh,  ruins  of,  i.  360,  362,  363 
Dhourra,  i.  153 
“  Dibs,”  i.  322 

Diligence  from  Damascus,  ii.  437,  439 
Disciples,  directions  to,  respecting  poverty, 
&c„  i.  329,  330 

Discourse,  religious  tone  of  Oriental,  ii.  303 
Dish,  dipping  into  with  others,  i.  113 
Dispersion,  Jews  of,  number  of,  ii.  504 
Distance  between  Ramleh  and  Lydda,  i.  33 
Ditch,  filled  with  water,  surrounding  for¬ 
tress,  i.  69 

Divan  in  Arab  house,  i.  116 
Dividing  land  “  hy  line,”  ii.  152 
Divining,  i.  445 
Divorce,  i.  182 
1  >og  River,  ii.  472,  474 

Dogs,  description  of,  i.  11  ;  in  Book  of  Judith, 
i.  12  ;  fierceness  of,  i.  11  ;  need  of  defence 
from,  i.  12;  night  disturbed  by,  i.  12; 
allusion  to,  by  Christ,  i.  12;  by  Psalmist, 
i.  12 ;  bv  Moses,  i.  12  ;  as  scavengers,  i. 
12;  barking  at  sight  of  strangers,  i.  12; 
■watch,  i.  221 ;  trouble  from,  i.  297;  ii.  83, 
214,  265,  270,  423 

Dome  covering  cistern,  i.  122;  over  wells,  i. 
235,  216 

Domitiau,  i.  161 
Donkey,  i.  4,  25,  82 

Doors,  absence  of  woodwork  in,  i.  19  ;  without 
hiuges  to,  i.  70 ;  a  superfluity,  i.  127 
Doorway,  marble  column  used  as  threshold 
of,  i.  128. 

Dor,  rocky  ledge  at,  i.  61 ;  ruins  of,  i.  69 ; 
memorials  of  Roman  city,  i.  70 ;  ancient 
Canaanite  city,  i.  70 

Dora,  Roman  name  for  Dor,  i.  70 ;  ii.  432,  488 
Dorcas,  meaning  of  name,  i.  21 ;  reputed 
house  of,  i.  21,  28 ;  death  of,  i.  32 
Dothan,  Plain  of,  ii.  244 
Dovecot,  description  of,  i.  46,  151 
Doves,  wild,  i.  42 ;  turtle,  i.  42 ;  used  as  a 
metaphor  in  Scripture,  i.  45 ;  frequent 
mention  of,  in  Scripture,  i.  45 ;  allusion 
to  by  Christ,  i.  46 ;  used  for  all  varieties 
of  pigeons,  i.  46 ;  bred  by  Hebrews  for 
table,  i.  161 ;  numbers  of,  at  Tell-el-Safieh, 
i.  118 ;  allusion  to  in  Canticles,  i.  118 ; 
allusion  to  by  Jeremiah,  i.  118 
Dowry,  i.  100;  ii.  281 
Dragomau,  i.  4  ;  ii.  336 
Draughts  in  Eastern  houses,  i.  53 
Dress  of  Egyptians,  i.  2  ;  of  Levantines,  i.  2  ; 
of  Syrians,  i.  2 ;  outer,  of  man,  i.  5  ;  of 
peasants,  i.  72  ;  ii.  201,  282 ;  of  people  of 
Esdud,  i.  128,  136  ;  of  man  at  Gerar,  i. 
209;  of  Southern  Palestine,  i.  210;  loose, 
of  Bedouin,  referred  to  by  Christ,  i.  288 ; 
of  poor  Arabs,  i.  289  ;  of  women,  i.  495 ; 
of  women  of  Nazareth,  ii.  274;  on  Leba¬ 
non,  ii.  410 ;  varieties  of,  ii.  412 ;  at 
Shtora,  ii.  439 

Drinking-fountain  at  roaddde,  i.  143 
Drought  and  rain,  ii.  57 


Drug  merchants,  i.  143 
Drunkenness,  i.  323 
Druses,  ii.  293,  401,  404 

Drusus,  stepson  of  Ctesar,  i.  62 ;  tower  of,  i. 
62 

Dry  season,  ii.  58 
Duk  fountain,  ii.  72,  75,  78 
Dung,  dried,  used  for  fuel,  i.  122  ;  goats’,  used 
for  manure,  i.  151 ;  pigeons’,  used  for 
manure,  i.  151 

Dust-heaps  in  all  Eastern  towns,  i.  152, 156;  in 
villages,  i.  156,  293 

Dye  works,  at  Tyre  and  Sidon,  ii.  482,  498 

Early  and  1atter  rains,  i.  274 
Earrings  worn  hy  both  sexes,  i.  254;  various 
references  to,  in  Bi1  le,  i.  254 
Earthquakes,  i.  35  ;  mentioned  in  Bible,  ii. 
316,  317  ;  radius  of,  ii.  317 ;  causes  of,  ii. 
317;  effects  of,  ii.  318;  manifestations  of 
the  Almighty,  ii.  3  8  ;  at  Safed,  ii.  366 
East,  unchanging  character  of,  i.  19 
East  wind,  frequently  used  as  symbol,  ii.  63; 

emblem  of  trout  de,  ii.  64 
Ebal,  absence  of  springs  at,  ii.  215  ;  curses  on, 
ii.  218,  219 ;  ruins  on,  ii.  221 ;  view  from, 
ii.  221 

Ebenezer,  i.  130;  ii.  142 
Edomites  driven  from  Mount  Seir,  i.  264 
Eags,  abundance  of,  i.  14;  i.  158;  a  p  incipal 
article  of  diet,  i.  160 ;  not  used  by  Hebrews 
as  food,  i.  161 
Eglon,  murder  of,  ii.  253 
Egypt,  i.  1,  9,  12,  15,  24;  fleet  of,  i.  4;  de¬ 
liverance  from,  i.  14;  horse  market  of,  i. 
33;  Jews  learned  brick-making  in,  i.  51  ; 
lizard  of,  i.  66 ;  hereditary  foe  <  f  Assyrian, 
i.  80 ;  Greeks  fii'st  entered  Palestine  from, 
i.  83  ;  Hebrews  go  to,  i.  84 ;  Philistines 
came  to  Canaan  from,  i.  86  ;  influence 
of  on  present  inhabitants  of  Philistine 
Plain,  i.  86  ;  Israelites  refused  straw  in, 
i.  88 ;  flies  abounding  by  waters  of,  i.  95 ; 
reputed  holy  men  in,  i.  120;  scarcity  of 
fuel  in,  i.  122 ;  frequency  of  symamores  in, 
i.  134;  date-palm  in,  i.  138,  206;  imports 
oil  from  Palestine,  i.  139  ;  exported  horses 
to  Syria  in  antiquity,  i.  155 ;  imports 
horses  from  Damascus,  i.  155;  Jeremiah 
taken  to,  i.  169  :  masonry  learnt  in,  i.  171 ; 
flour  mills  in,  i.  174;  snake-charmers  of, 
i.  244 

Egyptians,  dress  of,  i.  2  ;  settlement  of,  in 
Palestine,  i.  24  ;  resem blame  between 
people  of  Esdud  and,  i  128 
Ekron,  i.  33—98  ;  held  by  Judah,  i.  84;  taken 
by  Hebrews,  i.  84 ;  one  of  chief  cities 
of  Philistines,  i.  85,  93;  assigned  to  Dan, 
i.  90  ;  probably  built  of  unburnt  trick, 
i.  93;  most  northern  ot  five  Philistine 
cities,  i.  93  ;  the  present,  i.  93  ;  meaning  of 
name  of,  i.  93  ;  deputation  to  consult  local 
god  of,  i.  94;  retaken  by  Philistines,  i. 
94  ;  Ark  at,  i.  104,  131,  132 
Elah,  David  and  Goliath  at,  i.  105,  108.  110, 132; 

fertilitv  of,  i.  109 ;  valley  of,  i.  109,  113 
El-Aksa,  mosque  of,  ii.  46 
El-Bireh,  ancient  Beeroth,  ii.  166 
El- Burak,  i.  405 

El-Butt au f,  plain,  ii.  302,  306,  308 ;  fertility 
of,  ii.  3  )9 

El-Dilbeh,  springs  of,  i.  G60 
El-Falik,  stream  of,  i.  75  ;  approach  to,  i.  77  ; 
artificial  stream  of,  i.  77 ;  meaning  of 
name,  i.  77 

El-Haratliiyeh,  Harosheth,  ii.  373 

El-Hawa,  ii.  140 

El-Fureidis,  i.  387 

El-Ghajar,  bridge  at,  ii  384 

El- Jib,  ii.  165,  168  ;  cultivation,  ii.  168 


INDEX. 


515 


El-Jish,  "  Giscala,”  ii.  369 
El-Jurah,  village  of,  i.  199 
El-Lubban,  ii.  197,  203 
El-Mahrakah,  ii.  287 
El-Mansurah,  village  of,  i.  93 
El-Mejdel,  i.  136 
El-Mujedda,  ii.  261 
El-Muntar,  i.  184  ;  ii.  130 
El-Mukhnab ,  ii.  205,  207 
El-Safieb,  village  of,  i.  113 
El-Tili,  wilderness  of,  i.  345 
El-Welejeh,  ii.  135 
Eleazur,  tomb  of,  ii.  207 
Elias,  monastery  of,  i.  456 
Eliezer,  Abraham’s  servant,  i.  88  ;  meets 
Rachel,  i.  442 

Elijah  flees  from  Jezebel,  i.  257 ;  running  to 
Jezreel,  ii.  57  ;  contest  with  priests  of 
Baal,  ii.  287 — 290  ;  at  Sarepta,  ii.  492 
Elisha  ploughing  with  oxen,  i.  136  .  Spring  of, 
ii.  71  ;  makes  hitter  water  sweet,  ii.  75; 
in  retirement,  ii.  287  ;  watching  ior  rain, 
ii.  288,  299 

Emerods,  i.  94  ;  images  of,  i.  132 
Emmaus,  possible  identification,  ii.  142;  mean¬ 
ing  of  name,  ii.  143 
Emperors,  deification  of,  i.  60 
Encampment,  Arab,  destruction  of,  i.  124 ; 
various  Biblical  names  for,  i.  285;  ar¬ 
rangement  of,  i.  285 
Enchantments,  i.  243 
Endor,  ii.  252  ;  the  witch  of,  ii.  252 
Engedi,  vineyards  of,  i.  317  ;  ride  to,  ii.  114; 
or  Hazajon-tamar,  ii.  115;  fountain  of,  ii. 
117  ;  hill  at,  in  118 

England,  importation  of  locust-beans  to,  i.  78 
En  Rogel,  or  Job’s  Well,  i.  555 — 558,  560 
En  Shemesh,  ii.  66 
Ephes-Dammin,  i.  105,  107 
Ephesus,  i.  60 

EpK>d,  sacred,  i.  110,  445  ;  consulted  hy  Dan- 
itiGs  i.  44(3  447 

Ephraim,  “  yaar ”  of,  i.  50:  hills  of,  i.  65; 
Hittites  in  mountains  of,  l.  86 ;  fertility 
of,  ii.  191,  193,  194 

Eriha,  the  modern  Jericho,  ii.  80 — 82,  84; 
to  Jordan,  ii.  84 

Erma,  meaning  of,  ii.  145  ;  view  from,  ii.  146 
Er  Ram,  ii.  170 
Er  Ras,  ii.  138 

Esarhaddon,  tablet  of,  ii.  468 
Esau,  sells  his  birthright,  i.  441 
Eschol,  probable  locality  of,  i.  260 ;  locality 
of,  i.  318 

Esdraelon,  plain  of,  i.  36;  approach,  ii.  245; 
size  of  plain,  ii.  246;  battle-ground,  ii. 
247  ;  encampments  on,  ii.  247  ;  fertility  of, 
ii.  248 

Esdras,  chicken  mentioned  in,  i.  161 
Esdud,  see  Ashdod 
Esfla,  Druse  village  of,  ii.  293 
Eshtemoa  or  Semna,  David  at,  i.  351 
Eshua,  ii.  147 

Esmunazar,  sarcophagus  of,  ii.  4S5 
Es  Seba,  Wady,  i.  251 
Es  Sheriah,  torrent-bed,  i.  236,  237 
Essenes,  i.  520  ;  in  desert,  ii.  129 
Etam,  fountain  at,  i.  382;  supposed  site  of, 
i.  382  ;  ii.  142 

Ethiopians,  Jaman  of  Ashdod  fled  to,  i.  130. 
See  note  also 

Eunuch,  the  Ethiopian,  i.  36,  230 
Eusebius,  Bi  nop  of  Caesarea,  i.  63  and  note; 

native  of  Palestine,  i.  63 
Evil  eye,  ii.  276 

Excavations  at  Joppa,  i.  4;  at  Zikrin,  i.  305; 
Mount  of  Olives,  ii.  27 ;  wonderful  at 
Castle  Banias,  ii.  398 

Eyes  put  out  to  avoid  conscription,  i.  271; 
painting,  i.  496 


Ezekiel,  i.  53 :  dies  through  wall  of  house,  i. 
54 ;  speaks  of  apostate  elders,  i.  204 ; 
speaks  of  palms,  i.  207  ;  describes  a  ship, 
i.  372;  vision  of  restored  sanctuary,  i. 
508;  refers  to  Temple  springs,  ii.  32; 
vision  of,  ii.  121 ;  cedars  used  as  illustra¬ 
tion  by,  ii.  450  ;  denounces  Tyre,  ii.  500 
Ezra,  Temple  rebuilt  in  time  of,  i.  21;  great 
fast  of,  i.  27  ;  Hittites  mentioned  by,  i.  86 ; 
rebuilds  walls  of  Jerusalem,  i.  549 

Factory,  for  wooden  machinery  and  imple¬ 
ments  i.  81 
Fakarith,  Wady,  ii.  69 
Fall,  Egyptian  tradition  of  the,  i.  249 
False  witness,  i.  21 
Falujeh,  description  of,  i.  278 
Farah,  Wady,  ii.  229 
Farms,  extent  of,  ii.  154 
Father,  supreme  authority  of  the,  i.  299 
Fauna  of  the  Jordan  Plain,  ii.  77 
Feast,  marriage,  i.  101 ;  continues  seven  days, 
i.  101  ;  ending  in  quarrelling,  i.  102 ; 
harvest,  i.  424,  425;  of  Tabernacles,  ii.  32, 
190 

Feet,  bare,  i.  211 
Felix,  procurator  of  Judaea,  i.  39 
Fences,  absence  of,  i.  217 
Fertility,  possibility  of  extreme,  in  Palestine, 
i.  10;  ancient,  near  Ekron,  i.  97  ;  near  El 
Fureidis,  i.  402  ;  on  way  to  Bethlehem,  i. 
406,  407 ;  mixture  of  and  barrenness,  ii, 
139  ;  round  Damascus,  ii.  426 
Festival,  Day  of  Atonement,  ii.  151 ;  religious, 
at  Shiloh,  ii.  209 
Feuds,  see  Blood 

Fields,  villagers  descending  to  their,  i.  109; 

of  the  strong  men,  ii.  169. 

Figs,  i.  70,  111,  145  ;  ii.  134,  135,  214  ;  difference 
between,  and  sycamores,  i.  134 ;  dried,  i. 
159;  time  of  ripening,  i.  179;  early  and 
late,  i.  180 ;  parable  of,  i.  189 ;  ii.  198 ; 
superstition  about,  i.  199 
Fig-tree.  i.  19  ;  ii.  306  ;  half  buried  in  sand,  i, 
127 

Finding  of  the  Cross,  i.  483 
Fir-trees,  i.  51 

Fire,  impossibility  of  arresting,  i.  102,  115  ; 
precautions  against,  i.  102,  114,  115;  in 
centre  of  floor,  i.  113;  of  thorns,  i.  113; 
lighted  in  camps,  i.  1 15  ;  very  dangerous 
to  crops,  i.  115  ;  crackling,  i.  116  ;  spread¬ 
ing  with  intense,  velocity,  i.  116 ;  Arab 
law  against  causing,  i.  116 
Fish-shops,  frequency  of,  i.  17 
Fish,  dry,  from  Egypt,  i.  84  ;  sacred  to  Der- 
keto,  i.  196  ;  sacred,  still  preserved  in 
Syria,  i.  202  ;  ii.  316 
Fishermen,  i.  20 

Fishery,  ancient,  sea  snails,  ii.  296 
Fishing,  Lake  of  Galilee,  ii.  3  tl 
Fitches  beaten  with  rod,  i.  147 
Flails  no  longer  used,  i.  1 17 
Fleas,  trouble  irom,  i,  297;  ii.  349 
Flat  roofs,  i.  35 
Fleets  at  Joppa,  i.  4 

Flies  very  persistent,  i.  95;  in  myriads,  i.  95; 
break  up  Arab  encaminneut,  i.  95  ;  severe 
trial  in  the  Fast,  i.  95 ;  torment  wild 
animals,  i.  95 ;  not  found  at  high  levels,  i. 
95;  cattle  driven  to  high  levels  to  escape, 
i.  95;  infectious  matter  carried  by,  i.  95  ; 
horse,  dangerous  to  cattle  and  sheep,  i.  95; 
draw  blood  by  their  bites,  i.  96;  pi-oclice 
sores,  i.  96  ;  necessary  to  cover  food  fiom, 
i.  96;  cause  ophthalmia,  i.  96,  270 
Flint,  knives  of,  i.  48 ;  implements  of,  at 
Beirout,  ii.  474 

Flocks,  peasants  driving,  i.  75 ;  penned  in 
caves,  i.  109,  225  ;  ana  her  as,  i.  135 ;  Arab, 


516 


INDEX. 


i.  212,  278 ;  fpllowing  music,  i.  217 ;  of 
sheep  and  goals,  i.  22 1 ;  resting  by  day, 
i.  225 ;  tended  by  women  of  position,  i. 
229;  immense,  beyond  Jordan,  i.  231; 
carried  away  by  Assyrians,  i.  231 ;  ii.  159, 
294 

Flood,  i.  273 

Flora,  Jordan  Plain,  ii.  77 
Flour,  i.  159 

Flower-beds,  i.  9 ;  gardens,  mode  of  arranging, 

i.  9 

Flowers,  ii.  11,  203 ;  Ain  Haniyeh,  ii.  135  ;  ii. 
245  ;  near  Nazareth,  ii.  277  ;  at  Sepphoris, 

ii.  306 

Fog,  morning,  i.  73  ;  on  plains,  i.  73 
Folds,  sheep,  i.  221 

Food,  flies  on,  i.  96  ;  usual,  in  Palestine,  i.  133 ; 
fresli,  for  caravans,  i.  159  ;  ceremonially 
clean,  i.  329  ;  of  peasants,  ii.  379 
Ford  of  Iskanderuneh,  i.  71;  Jordan,  near 
Galilee,  ii.  99  ;  Jordan,  various  scenes  at, 
ii.  99 

Fords,  numerous,  of  Jordan,  ii.  100 ;  of  Betli- 
sban,  ii.  257 

Foreigners,  quarters  of,  Jerusalem,  i.  469 ; 
forbidden  entrance  to  courts  of  Temple,  i. 
513,  514 

Forest,  west  of  Jordan,  i.  50;  of  oak,  i.  58; 
fire  of  a,  alluded  to  by  prophets,  i.  66  ;  in 
time  of  prophets,  i.  66 ;  of  Assur,  i.  75 ; 
signs  of  former,  i.  260 
Forge,  i.  81,  160 
Fork,  winnowing,  i.  150 

Fortresses,  rain-cisterns  in,  i.  27  ;  Crusading, 
i.  68,  70 

Fortune,  temple  to,  i.  163 
Fountain,  a  memorial,  i.  25 ;  in  a  tomb,  i.  26  ; 
valued  in  East,  i.  26  ;  at  Joppa,  description 
of  a,  i.  26  ;  utilised  by  Herod,  i.  67  ;  re¬ 
quired  near  every  ancient  temple,  i.  103; 
at  Gaza,  i.  158 ;  at  Bethsur,  i.  373,  374 ;  at, 
Etam,  i.  382;  of  Virgin,  i.  503;  ii.  31;  at 
Ain  Hajlab,  ii.  85  ;  Sultan’s,  ii.  85,  94,  95  ; 
Engedi,  ii.  117;  Yalo,  ii.  134,  135;  at 
Nazareth,  ii.  271 ;  of  the  Cup,  ii.  490 
Fowls  staple  form  of  animal  food,  i.  160; 
numerous  in  time  of  Christ,  i.  160 ;  same 
as  wild  birds  in  Old  Testament,  i.  161 
Frank  Mountain,  view  from,  i.  389  ;  legend  of 
Crusaders,  i.  389 ;  desolate  country 
round,  i.  339,  390 

Franks,  family  descended  fi'om,  i.  181 ;  occu¬ 
pation  by,  desired,  i.  199 
Franciscan  hospice,  i.  18;  monks,  ii.  149; 

monastery  at  Sidon,  ii.  479 
Franciscans,  gardens  of,  i.  24 
Friday,  Mohammedan  Sabbath,  i.  137  ;  ii.  213 
“  Friends  of  the  Bridegroom,”  i.  101 
Frontage  of  farms,  ii.  153 
Fruit,  abundance  of,  i.  6 ;  variety  of,  i.  6 ;  of 
sycamore,  i.  134;  ripening  of,  i.  146;  at 
Ascalon,  i.  192  ;  market  at  Hebron,  i.  330  ; 
gardens  of  at  Urtas,  i.  383;  ii.  10,  150,  191, 
197,  204 ;  in  valley  of  Shechem,  ii.  227 ; 
trees  at  Haifa,  ii.  295 ;  abundance  of  at 
Katana,  ii.  415;  at  Damascus,  ii.  417,  426, 
435;  at  Slitora,  ii.  439  ;  and  vegetables  at 
Beirout,  ii.  467  ;  at  Sidon,  ii.  475 
Fruitfulness.  Marnas,  god  of,  i.  163 
Fuel,  i.  155,  285 ;  gathering,  ii.  148 ;  scarcity 
of  at  Damascus,  ii.  428 
Fulke,  King  of  Jerusalem,  ii.  43 
Fullers,  i.  173 

Funeral,  i.  175;  a  Mohammedan,  i.  177;  pro¬ 
cessions,  i.  179  ;  meal,  i.  543 

Gad,  men  of,  swim  Jordan,  ii.  88 
“  Gadairs,”  i.  246,  311,  312 
Gadai-a,  Um  Keis,  ii.  350,  351 
Galgula,  or  Gilgal,  i.  57 


Galileans  bail  Christ  as  “prophet,”  ii.  44 
Galilee,  i.  40,  143;  Lower,  the  sycamore  in,  i. 
134  ;  Lake  of,  i.  93,  98,  100  ;  insects  round, 
ii.  348 

Galley,  remains  of  a,  i.  4 
Games  celebrated  by  Titus,  i.  63  ;  in  theatres, 
i.  67 

Ganneau,  discovery  of  ancient  cemetery  by, 
i.  28 

Gaols,  miserable,  i.  168 

Gardens,  irrigation  of.  i.  9 :  won  from  sand, 
i.  10 ;  i.  28,  31,  33,  70,  90,  93  ;  at  Caesarea,  i. 
62  ;  hedged  with  prickly  pear,  i.  127  ;  un- 
fenced,  i.  144;  luxuriauce  of  at  Gaza,  i. 
169 ;  produce  of  at  Gaza,  i.  180  ;  royal,  at 
Jerusalem,  i.  554;  at  Mar  Saba,  ii.  125, 
126 ;  at  Kbamasa,  ii.  143  ;  at  Haifa,  ii.  295 ; 
at  Damascus,  ii.  434 

Gardener,  life  of,  i.  9;  dress  of,  i.  179,  180 
Garlic,  i.  16 

Gate,  city,  carried  off  by  Samson,  i.  169 ;  of 
Ascalon,  i.  194 

Gates  of  Temple,  i.  514  ;  absence  of  at  Damas¬ 
cus,  ii.  422  ;  of  ancieut  cities,  ii.  458  ;  of 
Heavenly  City,  ii.  458 

Gath,  a  chief  city  of  the  Philistines,  i.  85; 
frontier  fortress  of  Pliilistina,  i.  107  ; 
held  by  Philistines,  i.  109  ;  David  at,  i. 
110  ;  Tel  es  Safieh  supposed  to  be,  i.  118; 
David  flies  to,  i.  119  ;  in  hands  of  David, 
i.  120 ;  David  in,  i.  120  ;  added  to  Syria, 
i.  121;  David’s  second  flight  to,  i.  121; 
Ark  dreaded  at,  i.  131 ;  Ark  removed  to, 
i.  131 

Gaza  taken  by  Hebrews,  i.  84;  held  by  Judha, 

i.  84  ;  a  chief  city  of  Philistines,  i.  85 ; 
remnant  of  the  giants  at,  i.  119  ;  descrip¬ 
tion  of,  i.  158;  bazaar  at.  i.  159;  first 
church  at,  i.  163 ;  strength  of,  i.  164 ; 
public  offices  of,  i.  168  ;  cemetery  at,  i.  175 ; 
mission  houses  in,  i.  182  ;  overthrown  by 
Chaldseans,  i.  185;  besieged  by  Pharaoh 
Necho,  i.  185;  Alexander  the  Great  at,  i. 
185;  triumphed  over  by  Jews,  i.  186;  in 
hands  of  Greeks  and  Romans,  i.  186  ; 
people  of,  sold  by  Hadrian,  i.  186 ;  fre¬ 
quently  rebuilt,  i.  186  ;  ruled  by  Arabs  and 
Turks,  i.  186;  ancient  olives  at,  i.  199; 
absence  of  sounds  in,  i.  203 

Gazelle,  i.  125,  277  ;  used  as  food,  i.  277  ;  fleet¬ 
ness  of,  i.  277  ;  mention  of,  in  Bible,  i. 
277 

Geba,  ii.  171 
Gedairah,  i.  313 
Gedor,  i.  374 
Gehenna,  i.  547 

Gennesaret,  i.  20  ;  ii.  331 ;  Plain  of,  ii.  324,  328, 
331  ;  probable  meaning  of  name,  ii.  332  ; 
former  fertility  of,  ii.  332,  333 ;  Lake  of, 

ii.  338 

Gentiles,  water  highway  to  lands  of,  i.  20  ; 
fellow-heirs  with  the  Jew,  i.  59  ;  Paul 
and  the,  i.  139,  140  ;  Court  of,  i.  513;  Paul 
in  Court  of,  i.  514 

George,  St.,  supposed  birth  at  Lydda,  i.  31 
Gerah,  smallest  Hebrew  weight,  i.  78 
Ger.ir,  seat  of  Abimelech,  i.  84  ;  road  to,  i. 
209,  235 — 237 ;  city  of  Philistines,  i.  238 ; 
country  round,  i.  239 
Gerasa,  Jerash,  ruins  of,  ii.  14,  351 
Gerizim,  ii.  205,  211,  212  ;  spring  at,  ii.  215 ; 
ascent  of,  ii.  216  ;  Jotham’s  parable  on, 
ii.  216 ;  Passover  kept  on,  ii.  217  ;  tradi¬ 
tions  concerning,  ii.  218  ;  ruins  on,  ii.  218, 
219 ;  view  from,  ii.  220 

German  village  of  Sarona,  i.  80 ;  colony,  ii.  295 
Germany,  property  held  bv,  i.  486,  487 
Gethsemane  took  its  name  from  an  oil-vat, 
i.  141 ;  ii.  6-9,  15,  40 

Gezer,  site  of,  i.  97 ;  remains  of,  i.  97 ;  eleva- 


INDEX. 


517 


tion  of,  i.  97 ;  a  populous  city,  i.  97 ;  a  Levi- 
tical  city,  i.  98 ;  view  from  site  of,  i.  98 ; 
part  of  dowry  of  Pharaoh’s  daughter,  i.  98 
Gibbetliou  of  Dan,  i.  43 

Gibeah,  possible  site  of,  ii.  162;  Saul  and  Jo¬ 
nathan  interred  at,  ii.  164 
Gibeon,  soldiers  of  Joshua  at,  i.  37  ;  taber¬ 
nacle  at,  i.  133  ;  frequent  mention  of,  ii. 
168  ;  pool  of,  ii.  169 ;  battle  of,  ii.  183, 
184 

Gideon  and  the  fleece,  i.  74 ;  uses  flail  for 
tlireshiug,  i.  147  ;  ii.  74  ;  overcomes  Mi- 
dianites,  ii.  257  ;  strategy  of,  ii.  258 
Gihon,  or  Sultan’s  Pool,  i.  544 
Gilboa,  region  of,  bare  of  trees,  i.  65  ;  Mount, 
no  dew  to  fall  <  n,  i.  74 ;  range  of,  ii.  246 
— 248  ;  battle  of,  ii.  251,  252 
Gilead,  people  of,  tortured,  i.  149;  mountains 
of,  ii.  249 

Gilgal,  present  Kalkilieli,  i.  57 ;  site  of,  ii.  94  ; 
altar  at,  ii.  95 ;  a  religious  centre,  ii.  95, 
96;  several  places  called,  ii.  95 — 97 
Girdle  of  leather,  i.  72  ;  i.  434,  495 
Girgashi,  meaning  of,  i.  86 
Girls  rarely  carried  on  shoulders,  i.  87  ;  little 
thought  of,  i.  155  ;  of  the  Druses,  ii.  404 
Giscala,  El-Jish,  ii.  368 

Gladiators,  Jewish  prisoners  killed  as,  i.  63; 
at  Beirout,  ii.  457 

Glass  known  to  Jews,  i.  173  ;  manufacture  of,  i. 
330  ;  discovery  of,  ii.  296 ;  industry,  at  Tyre, 
ii.  498 

Glazing,  pottery,  i.  171 

Gleaner  gathering  olives,  i.  140  ;  heats  grain 
with  stick,  i.  147 
Gleaning,  i.  141,423 

Goad,  reference  to,  in  story  of  Paul’s  conver¬ 
sion,  i.  41  ;  to  urge  on  oxen,  i.  41  ;  Philis¬ 
tines  killed  with,  i.  85 ;  i.  15o  ;  ii.  383 
Goal-post,  at  Caesarea,  i.  62 
Goat  herds,  i.  €9 

Goats,  flocks  of,  i.  65,  112,  232 ;  sleeping  on 
roof,  i.  116  ;  sour  milk  of,  i.  158,  224,  311  ; 
Palestine  suited  for,  i.  230;  separated 
from  sheep,  i.  232;  quarrelsomeness  of,  i. 
•232;  colours  of,  i.  233;  allusion  to  in 
Canticles,  i.  233 ;  sacrifices  of,  i.  233  ;  fol¬ 
lowing  shepherd,  i.  560;  wild,  ii.  117; 
flocks  at  Beirout,  ii.  474 
Gobat,  Bishop,  schools  of,  i.  536 
God,  as“  blood  avenger,”  i.  167;  Herod  Agrippa 
hailed  as  a,  i.  60 
Godfrey  de  Bouillon,  i.  467,  468 
Gods,  mount niu,  i.  36,  130;  household,  i.  446; 
local,  ii.  377 

“  Going  forth  to  sow,”  ii.  303 
Golgotha,  i.  485  :  ii.  20 

Goliath,  D  ivid  and,  i.  10,98,  105  ;  armour  of,  i. 
105 ;  killed  by  David,  i.  107,  120 ;  and  the 
army  of  Philistines,  i.  110;  height  of,  i. 
119 ;  lance  of,  i.  170 
Good  Samaritan,  the,  ii.  67 
Gordon,  General,  i.  190 
Gorges,  deep,  i.  Ill 

Go.hs  called  giants  by  their  contemporaries, 
i.  119 

Gourd,  Jonah’s,  i.  371 
Government,  the  Turkish,  i.  165 
Governor,  a  visit  to  a,  i.  327 
Grafting  oranges  and  lemons,  i.  7, 139  ;  olives, 
alluded  to  by  St.  Paul,  i.  139 
Grain  for  sale,  i.  14 ;  green  and  yellow,  i.  35 ; 
stored  in  cave,  i.  108,  118  ;  carried  by 
men  or  camels  to  ilueshing-floor,  i. 
146 ;  one  kind  ripens  before  another, 
i.  146;  in  mounds  on  tl  rei-liing-ft  or, 
i.  147 ;  trodden  out  by  horses,  i.  147 ; 
turning  with  fork  on  threshing-floor, 
i.  148  ;  carried  to  cistern  or  storehouse, 
i.  152,  153  ;  watching  the,  i.  152  ;  largo 


surplus  in  antiquity,  i.  153;  exported  to 
Phoenicia,  i.  153;  means  to  preserve,  i. 
274 ;  riding  through,  i.  405 ;  ii.  75 
Granaries,  i.  67 

Granite  remains  at  Caesarea,  i.  62,  63  ;  at 
Ascalon,  i.  194 

Grape  mounds,  i.  260 ;  gathering  referred  to 
by  Amos,  i.  320 

Grapes,  buuches  of,  emblems  of  Promised 
Land,  i.  128  ;  red,  most  common,  i.  320; 
time  of  harvest,  i.  320  ;  great  abundance 
of,  i.  321 ;  syrup  of,  i.  322 
Grass  withering  “  before  it  grew  up,”  i.42,  69, 
133  ;  coarse,  i.  77  ;  growing  on  roof,  i.  155 
Grave,  weeping  at,  i.  175,  542  ;  digging,  i.  542 
Graves,  caring  for,  i.  175  ;  neglect  of,  ii.  16 
Great  Synagogue,  the  traditional,  ii.  54,  55 
Greciau  influence  over  Philistines,  i.  85  ; 
temples,  i.  133 

Greece,  chickens  unknown  in,  i.  161 
Greek  church,  images  in,  i.  132;  at  Tekoa,  i. 

399  ;  at  Damascus,  ii.  430 
Greeks,  i.  11;  Jews  and,  i.  63;  pray  towards 
the  East,  i.  204 
Greeting  to  reapers,  i.  422 
Grinding,  description  of,  i.  14  :  by  women,  i. 
14  ;  flour,  stones  for,  turned  by  current  of 
river,  i.  80;  corn,  ii.  193 
Grocer,  i.  16  ;  ground  usual  seat  of  the 
Orieutal,  i.  133 
Grove  of  olives,  i.  128 
Groves  at  Joppa,  i.  6 

Guard-houses  between  Joppa  and  Eamleh, 
i.  28 

Guard  necessary,  i.  71 ;  body-,  of  Philistines, 
i.  85 

Guests,  Arab,  i.  116 

Gunpowder  used  for  tattooing,  i.  15 

Gutter  to  diain  blood  in  the  Temple,  i.  506 

Guy  of  Lusignan,  ii.  312 

Guzaleh,  Deir,  village  of,  ii.  249 

Hadadrimmon,  ii.  260,  261 
Hadrian  oppresses  Jews,  i.  91  ;  suppresses 
Judaism,  i.  91 ;  quells  rebellion  under 
Barcochba,  i.  92  ;  sells  inhabitants  of  Gaza, 

i.  186  ;  desecrates  Cave  of  Bethlehem,  i. 
418  ;  he-ieges  B-ther,  ii.  136 

Hagar’s  Springs,  i.  354 

Haggai,  prophecy  by,  i.  92 

Haifa,  meaning  of  name,  i.  134  ;  ii.  295 

Hair  for  !  ottom  of  sieve,  i.  150 

Hamah  lekoth,  i.  359 

Hama  web,  town  of,  i.  136 

Hammal,  i.  17 

Hammatb,  possible  site  of,  ii.  322 
Hands,  “graven  on  the  palms  of,”  i.  16 
Handmills,  stones  of,  i.  93 
Hand-shaking,  i.  136 
Hanging  gardens  of  Babylon,  i.  8 
Ha  Kama,  meaning  of,  i.  30 
Daram,  masonry  of,  at  Jerusalem,  i.  333 
Harbour  of  Joppa,  i.  3;  no  natural,  on  north 
coast,  i.  61 ;  of  Caesarea,  i.  62  ;  absence  of, 
ar,  Mmet  Kubin,  i.  89;  insecure  at  Asca- 
lou,  i  196 

Huem  e  h  Sherif,  i.  501 
Hareth,  David  flees  to,  i.  110 
Hareth,  wood  of,  i.  Ill 
Haris,  Kefr,  village  of,  i.  49 
Harosheth,  ii.  262,  373 
Hurt  desiring  the  “  water-brooks,”  i.  125 
Harvest,  abundant,  of  oranges,  i.  7  ;  olive,  i. 
140 ;  gathered  at  different  times  on  dif¬ 
fer-  nt  levels,  i.  145,  421  ;  lasts  for  weeks  in 
Palestine,  i.  146 ;  ended  at  Pentecost,  i. 
146  ;  legal  commencement  of,  in  ancien. 
times,  i.  146 ;  variations  in  yield  of,  i.  153  ; 
depends  on  rain,  ii.  59  ;  in  Jordan,  valley, 

ii.  81 ;  prayers  for,  ii.  480 


518 


INDEX. 


Harvesting1,  i.  421 
HasMny,  river,  ii.  384 
Hatlirar  Khan,  ii.  67 

Hattin,  Horns  of,  ii.  309 :  village  of,  ii. 
310 ;  battle  of,  ii.  3i0,  457  ;  view  from,  ii. 
312 

Hatred  between  Jews  and  Samaritans,  ii.  226 
Hauran,  Fellahs  of  the,  i.  79  ;  marriage  among 
peasant-i  of  the,  i.  101 ;  home  of  Job  in 
the,  i.  124  ;  wheat  from  the,  i.  139  ;  popu¬ 
lation  of  the,  frequently  cave-dwellers,  i. 
303 

Hawthorn,  the,  i.  77 
Hazael,  of  Damascus,  i.  120 
Hazar-shual,  meaning  of,  i.  103 
Hazazon-tamar,  Engedi,  ii.  115 
Hazerim,  or  villages,  i.  83 
Hazor,  possible  site  of,  ii.  371 
Head,  covering  for  the,  i.  289;  forbidden  to 
eat  the,  of  animals,  ii.  420 
Head-dress  of  Arabs,  i.  2 
Head-gear,  varied,  ii.  424 
Heat,  intense,  i.  72  ;  at  Gaza,  i.  164 
Heaven,  Moslem  idea  of,  ii.  426 
Hebrew,  difficulty  of  accurate  translation  of, 
i.  144 

Hebrews,  murder  of,  by  men  of  Joppa,  i.  23  ; 
invasion  of,  i.  49,  76  ;  go  to  Egypt,  i.  84 ; 
lose  Philistine  cities,  i.  84 ;  conquest  of 
Central  Palestine  by,  i.  84 ;  Philistines 
seldom  independent  of,  i.  85  ;  Ark  of  the, 
at  Bethsheuiesli,  i.  103;  j oy  of  at  return 
of  Ark,  i.  104  ;  conflicts  with  Philistines, 
i.  112;  precautions  taken  by,  against  fire, 
i.  114;  David’s  fame  amougsr,  i.  119; 
sarcophagus  of  rich,  i.  128  ;  having  no 
idols,  Philistines  captured  Ark  as  equi¬ 
valent,  i.  130 ;  used  sycamore- wood,  i.  135  ; 
language  of  the,  i.  144;  forbidden  to 
work  in  iron,  i.  160;  blood  revenge  among 
the,  i.  167 

Hebron,  scrub  on  hills  near,  i.  65  ;  vineyards 
of,  i.  107,  363;  olive-vats  found  south  of, 

i.  141;  road  to,  i.  307  —  309;  approach 
to,  i.  324;  entering,  i.  326;  unsanitary 
condition  of,  i.  331 ;  houses  of,  i.  331  ; 
population  of,  i.  331 ;  antiquity  of,  i.  342  ; 
revolt  of  Absalom  at,  i.  343  ;  various  con¬ 
querors  of,  i.  314;  country  round,  i.  347  ; 
situation  of,  ii.  38 

Hecate,  temple  to,  i.  163 

Hedge  of  bramble,  i.  6 ;  of  thorns,  i.  115 ;  of 
prickly  pear,  i.  133  ;  of  cactus,  i.  136 ;  of 
“  nubk,”  ii.  73 

Hedjaz,  inhabitants  of,  eat  locusts,  i.  79 
Helena,  St.,  Chapel  of,  i.  483,  434 ;  the  Empress, 
visits  Jerusalem,  ii.  7 ;  tomb  of  Queen,  ii. 
20  ;  Queen,  becomes  a  proselyte  to  Juda¬ 
ism,  ii.  54 
Heliopolis,  ii.  440 
Helmet,  brazen,  i.  105 
Henna,  ii.  76,  116 
Henry  VIII.,  i.  163 

Herbs,  mode  of  arranging  gardens  of,  i.  9 ; 
bea  en  with  rod,  i.  147 ;  tound  in  wilder¬ 
ness,  i.  390 

nerds  of  asses,  camels,  cattle,  i.  155 
Herdsmen,  i.  95 
Hermits,  i.  396  ;  ii.  83 

Hermon,  torrents  in,  i.  125;  ii.  221,  245;  or 
Jebel  esli  Sheikh,  ii.  400  ;  cultivation  on, 

ii.  402,  403  ;  description  of,  ii.  402,  403  ; 
volcanic  traces  on,  ii.  403,  405;  flocks  on, 
ii.  403  ;  geological  formation  of,  ii.  40±  ; 
view  of,  ii.  494 

Herod  the  Great,  i.  23 ;  built  theatre  at 
Caesarea,  i.  60;  ability  of,  i.  61;  builds 
Caesarea,  i.  61 ;  architectural  triumphs  of, 
at  Caesarea,  i.  61 ;  supplies  Caesarea  witn 
water,  i.  67 ;  leaves  Ashdod  to  Salome,  i. 


130  ;  born  at  Ascalon,  i.  194,  197  ;  buried  at 
El  Fureidis,  i.  388 ;  flight  of,  to  Egypt,  i. 
388  ;  ruins  of  citadel  of,  i.  456  ;  palaces  of, 

i.  464 ;  ii.  37  ;  towers  of,  i.  526  ;  death  of, 

ii.  14  ;  water  system  contrived  by,  ii.  37 
Herod  Agrippa  presents  himself  at  sports  in 

robes  of  silver  tissue,  i.  60  ;  hailed  as  a 
god,  i.  60;  grandson  of  Herod  the  Great, 
i.  6u;  struck  with  disease,  i.  60,  61;  death 
of,  i.  61  ;  improves  Beirout,  ii.  457 
Herod  Antipas  builds  Tiberias,  ii.  319 
Herod  Philip  builds  Bethsaida,  ii.  340;  mar¬ 
riage  of,  ii.  340 

Herodium,  i.  381  ;  fortress  of,  i.  388 
Herodotus,  i.  130 

Heshbon  and  Bashan,  kingdoms  of  Amorites, 
i.  86 

Hesiod,  i.  161 
Hewers  of  wood,  i.  495 

Hezekiali,  Pool  of,  i.  470;  ii.  28 — 31;  water- 
supply  of,  ii.  32;  aqueducts  of,  i.  516 
Hiereion,  the,  gods  of  Gaza,  i.  163 
High  priest,  death  of,  gives  freedom  to 
murderer,  i.  168  ;  trades  which  unfitted 
men  for  being,  i.  173 
Highway,  -Roman,  i.  36 
Hillel,  Kabbi,  tomb  of,  ii.  367 
Hill  of  Evil  Counsel,  i.  547,  558 ;  of  Offence, 
i.  558 

Hills,  i.  18 

Hinges,  want  of,  i.  70 

Hinnom,  Valley  of,  i.  456,  465,  539,  559  ;  ii.  28, 
32 

Hippicns,  tower  of,  i.  464 
Hippodrome  at  Caesarea,  i.  62 
Hiram  provides  wood,  &c.,  for  Temple,  ii.  301 
Hirelings,  i.  219 

Hittites  perhaps  branch  of  Cheta,  i.  86 
Hi  ves,  bee,  i.  93 
Hivites,  meaning  of,  i.  86 

Holof ernes’ s  fears  calmed  by  Judith,  i.  12 ; 
killed  by  Judith,  i.  95 

Holy  fire,  i.  475  ;  description  of  ceremony,  i. 
476—481 ;  water  of  J ordan,  ii.  91 ;  stones 
in  all  ages,  ii.  208,  209 

Holy  Ghost  first  poured  out  on  the  heathen, 
i.  60 

Holy  men,  extravagances  of,  i.  120 

Holy  of  Holies,  Antlochus  Epiphanes  in  the, 

i.  450,  515,  518 

Holy  Sepulchre,  Church  of  the,  i.  438 
Homer,  i.  161;  mention  of  Sidon  by,  ii.  477 
Homicide,  i.  167  ;  deliberate  and  accidental, 
not  on  same  footing,  i.  167 
Homrah,  i.  553 

Honey,  wild,  i.  89  ;  in  hollow  trees  and  clefts 
of  rocks,  i.  101,  390  ;  in  dead  animal,  i.  101 ; 
exported,  i.  139;  Jericho  celebrated  for, 

ii.  76 

Horace,  mention  of  locusts,  i.  78 
Horesh,  Scripture  word  for  “  wood,”  i.  50, note 
Horites,  cave  dwellings  of,  i.  222,  301  ;  country 
of,  i.  346 

Horn,  symbol  of  strength,  ii.  473 ;  to  support 
veil,  ii.  473 

Horses,  advantage  of  journey  by,  i.  25;  not 
known  among  Jews  till  time  of  Solomon, 
i.  36;  houghed  by  Josuua,  i.  37;  useless 
in  mountainous  regions,  i.  38 ;  used  in 
theatre,  i.  67  ;  harness  of,  i.  82  ;  bad  con¬ 
dition  of,  i.  82  ;  required  for  uplands,  i. 
93;  yoked,  i.  136;  few  kent  in  Palestine, 
i.  156  ;  price  of  hire,  i.  183  ;  numerous,  i. 
450 ;  not  used  by  Hebrews  in  antiquity,  i. 
450 ;  crossing  desert,  i.  451  ;  purchasing 
for  army,  ii.  437 

Hornets  nest  in  skull  of  dead  camel,  i.  101; 

cave  dwellers  driven  out  by,  i.  303 
Hosea,  reference  to  morning  clouds  by,  i.  73; 
compares  Israel  to  an  olive-tree,  i.  fo7  j 


INDEX. 


519 


mentions  ephod,  i.  446;  at  Samaria,  ii. 
236 

Hospice,  Russian,  i.  324;  ii.  150,  295 ;  Austrian, 
i.  498  ;  Pilgrims’  at  Damascus,  ii.  418 
Hospitals,  i.  535 
Hostelry,  Crusaders’,  ii.  195 
Hotel  at  Joppa,  i.  lo ;  at  Baa’bek,  ii.  446 
“  Hour  of  prayer,”  ancient  Jewish,  ii.  30 
Hours,  numbering  of,  ii.  176 
Houses,  flat-roofed,  i.  1,  10  ;  solidity  of,  i.  10  ; 
perishable  materials  of,  i.  51 ;  of  mud,  i.  51, 
54,  56,  127,  136,  159  ;  ii.  95  ;  of  sun-dried 
bricks,  i.  52,  53  ;  plastered  with  mud,  i.  70 ; 
of  stone,  i.  81;  of  Germ  in  settler,  i.  81; 
description  of  Arab,  i.  116;  of  unburnt 
bricks,  i.  122  ;  of  lime -tone,  i.  122  ;  “  built 
upon  the  sand,”  i.  121;  enclosed  in  courts, 

i.  127 ;  at  Nejid,  i.  271  ;  of  a  Sheikh,  i.  294, 
296  ;  at  Hebron,  i.  531 ;  “  of  Abraham,”  i. 
370;  in  Jerusalem,  i.  470  ;  in  antiquity,  i. 
527;  ‘‘of  Stoning,”  ii.  20,  22;  Nablus,  ii. 
214;  “built  on  a  rock,”  ii.  270:  Kefr 
Ho  war,  ii.  412  ;  of  wealthy,  at  Damascus, 

ii.  421,  428  ;  near  Shtora,  ii.  451 
Household  gods,  i.  446 

Housetops,  allusions  to,  in  Bible,  i.  433,  434 

Hovels,  mud,  of  villages,  i.  30 

Howarah,  pond  at,  ii.  207 

Huckster  in  streets,  i.  5 

Huleh,  Lake,  or  Merom,  ii.  98,  100,  101,  370 

Hundel,  i.  143 

Hunters,  use  of  sling  by,  i.  106 
Hunting  in  Jordan  marshes,  ii.  370 
Husha>’s  counsel  to  Absalom,  i.  74 
Huts,  mud,  i.  77,  221 ;  stone,  i.  103  ;  to  protect 
vat  'her.  i.  314;  grass,  ii.  467 
Hyrcanus  destroys  Samaritan  temple,  ii.  226 

Ibn  Ii  rak,  i.  28 

Ice  melting  on  Lebanou,  i.  124  ;  brought  by 
ancients  Irom  Herrnon,  ii.  404 
Id  eness,  i.  13,  122 

Idolatry  at  Be  rsheba,  i.  257  ;  assailed  by 
prophets,  ii.  189 
Ignorance  of  peasantry,  ii.  378 
ljon,  inhabitants  led  to  Assyria,  ii.  390 
Illumination  in  honour  of  dead,  i.  48 
Image,  brass,  in  Ctesarea  Philippi,  ii.  396 
Images  hung  in  temples,  i.  132  ;  sentb*  Philis¬ 
tines  to  propitiate  Jehovah,  i.  132,  133  ; 
first  on  record,  i.  132;  of  diseased  parts 
healed,  hung  in  temples,  i.  J32,  133; 
making  of,  forbidden,  i.  201 
India,  mounds  forming  round  villages,  i.  52  ; 
discovery  of  passage  to,  by  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  i.  128 ;  discovery  of  southern  pas¬ 
sage  to,  destroyed  caravan  trade,  i.  128  ; 
models  of  sick  parts  hung  in  temples  of, 
by  pilgrims,  i.  133 ;  serpent-charmers  in, 
i.  245,  246 
Indian  corn,  i.  70 
Indigo,  i.  153 

Infantry  Hebrews  possessed  only,  ii.  372 
Infants,  “saltmg”  of,  ii.  154 
Ink,  i.  491 
Ink-horn,  i.  489 

Inn,  the,  mentioned  by  Luke,  i.  169 
Inscriptions,  Aiabic,  i.  33;  Culic,  i.  33;  Hebrew, 
i.  97  ;  of  Crusaders,  i.  414  ;  ancient,  i.  551 ; 
Greek,  ii.  395,  413,  430  ;  at  Roman  road, 
Beirout,  ii.  468  ;  Phoenician,  on  sarcopha¬ 
gus,  ii.  486,  487 

Insects,  on  Lake  of  Galilee,  ii.  348;  at  Da¬ 
mascus,  ii.  4  >5 

Insurrection,  Jewish,  i.  92  ;  under  Simon, 
i.  523 

Intermarriages,  i.  87 

lnterp  eters  with  army,  ii.  437 

In  vasion,  Hebrew,  i.  76  ;  by  Sennacherib,  i.  76 

Irbid,  ruins  of,  ii.  329  ;  Herod  exterminates 


Jewish  zealots  from,  ii.  330  ;  numerous 
caves  round,  ii.  330 
Iris,  i.  41,  58 

Iron,  working  in,  prohibited,  i.  160 
Ironwork  brought  to  Philistines,  i.  160 
Irrigation  of  gardens,  i.  33;  little  practised, 
i.  181;  universal  in  antiquity,  ii.  332;  at 
Damascus,  ii.  416,  417,  427  ;  at  Shtora,  ii. 
452 

Isaac,  district  iu  which  he  lived,  i.  216  ; 

“smel  ed”  Jacob’s  clothes,  i.  442 
Isaiah,  quoted  eoncerniug  marks  on  hands,  i. 
14;  reference  to  early  mists,  i.  74  ;  to  ad¬ 
vance  of  Assyrians,  i.  74  ;  ii.  161  ;  to  habit 
of  carrying  iittle  children  on  hip,  i.  87  ; 
to  carrying  children  on  shoulder,  i.  87, 
155 ;  to  modes  of  carrying  merchandise, 
i.  88;  speaks  of  “teben,”  i.  89;  passage 
in,  thought  by  some  to  refer  to  flies  of 
Egypt,  i.  96  ;  prophecy  of,  respecting  help 
f  i  o in  Egypt,  i.  13U ;  refers  to  shaking  olive- 
trees,  i.  140  ;  to  mole-rat,  i.  144  ;  refers  to 
beating  herbs,  i.  147  ;  to  threshing-sledge, 

i.  148  ;  to  threshing- waggon,  i.  149  ;  refers 
to  threshing-floor,  i.  151 ;  refers  to  burn¬ 
ing  of  stubble,  i.  151 ;  makes  a  figure  of 
swimming  to  illustrate  tlie  punishment  of 
Moab,  i.  152  ;  prophecy  concerning  Moab,  i. 
152 ;  allusion  to  cattle  knowing  their 
stalls,  i.  157;  “removes  shoes,”  i.  162; 
reference  to  mirage,  i.  356  ;  murdered  by 
Manasseh,  i.  552;  alludes  to  water-draw¬ 
ing,  ii.  32  ;  speaks  of  Assyrian  invasion, 

ii.  175  ;  refers  to  Samaria,  ii.  235 
Isawiyeb,  ii.  157 

lshbibenob,  meaning  of  name,  i.  119  and  note 
Ishmael,  i.  153  ;  the  murderer  of  Gedaliah,  ii. 
170 

Ishmaelite3,  i.  136 
Isis,  i.  132 

Iskanderuneh,  river,  i.  57,  71 ;  troublesome  to 
cross  at  times,  i.  71  ;  ford  of,  iu  dry 
season,  i.  71 

Israel,  apostate,  i.  50  ;  fear  of  Philistines,  i.  85; 
rebuked  by  “  augel,”  ii.  95;  David  deter¬ 
mines  to  free,  i.  120 

Israelites  assured  of  safety  from  dogs  by 
Moses,  i.  12  ;  refused  “  teben”  for  brick- 
making,  i.  88  ;  looking  for  Messiah,  i.  91  ; 
descended  from  idolaters,  i.  446  ;  cross 
Jordan,  ii.  88,  89  ;  stone  circles  among, 
ii.  97 

Israelitish  alliance,  the,  i.  519 
Izar  worn  by  women,  i.  181 

Jaapa,  see  Joppa 

Jabesli  Gilead,  bodies  of  Saul  and  Jonathan 
rescued  by  men  of,  ii.  258 
Jabin,  Canaunitisli  chief,  i.  36  ;  oppresses 
Israel,  ii.  261  ;  defeated  by  Joshua,  ii.  371, 

388 

Jabueel,  ancient  name  of  Jamnia,  i.  90  ;  Phi¬ 
listines  kept  possession  of,  i.  90;  assigned 
to  Hebrews,  i.  90 ;  taken  by  Simon  Mac- 
cahseus,  i.  9u 

Jackals,  places  named  from  them,  i.  102 ; 
ho  ^ls  of,  i.  102 

Jacob,  flocks  of,  i.  229  ;  starts  from  Beersheba, 
i.  256 ;  punishment  of,  i.  442  ;  at  Hebron, 

i.  449  ;  at  Bethel,  ii.  186  ;  buries  Lraphim, 

ii.  208,  209 

Jacob’s  Well,  ii.  209—212 
Jael  murders  Sisera,  i.  11  ;  bringing  milk  to 
Sisera,  i.  213 
Jaffa,  see  Joppa 

Jair,  conquest  of  the  Lejja,  ii.  414 
Jaman,  treasures  of,  i.  L>0;  sent  to  Assyria, 
i.  130 

James,  St.,  a  Nazarite,  i.  398 

Jamnia,  position  of,  i.  90 ;  picturesque 


520 


INDEX. 


appearance  of,  i.  90 ;  river  at,  i.  90  ;  eiven 
to  Herod  the  Great,  i.  90 ;  left  by  Herod 
to  liis  sister  Salome,  i.  90  ;  left  by  S  dome 
to  Livia,  i.  90  :  large  colony  transferred 
to,  i.  90;  population  of,  i.  90;  once  the 
seat  of  Jewish  learning,  i.  91 
Jars  for  w'ater-wlieel,  i.  7  ;  earthenware,  i.  8 
Jeba,  ii.  213 

Jebel  Serbal,  i.  123;  Quarantania,  ii.  83;  Us- 
duin,  ii.  120 

Jebel  Duhy,  ii.  243,  251 
Jebel  esli  Sheikh,  or  Hermon,  ii.  400,  403 
Jebel  IMakmel,  view  from,  ii.  449 
Jebus,  see  Jerusalem 

Jebusites  found  only  on  Mount  Moriah,  i.  87  ; 
meaning  of,  i.  86  ;  strengthen  Jerusalem, 

i.  524  ;  long  occupation  of  Jerusalem, 

ii.  38 

Jedar,  see  Gadair 
Jehoiakim  burns  roll,  ii.  59,  60 
Jekoskaiihat  at  Teboa.  i.  400;  Jewish  ideas 
respecting,  i.  508,  519  ;  cemetery  in  valley 
of,  ii.  1 

Jehovah,  loyalty  to,  written  on  hands,  i.  14; 
Philistines  imogiue  Dagonhas  gained  vic¬ 
tory  over,  i.  131 

Jehu  uproots  Baal- worship,  ii.  188 
Jehud  of  Dan,  probably  El-Yeliudiyeh,  i.  51 
Jelbon,  villnge,  ii.  248 
Jeuin,  ancient  Engannim,  ii.  246,  285 
Jerboa,  ii.  89 

Jeremiah  speaks  of  true  and  false  prophets, 
i.  89 ;  putting  out  of  lamp  used  by,  as 
simile  of  impending  ruin,  i.  117 ;  com¬ 
pares  Israel  to  an  olive-tree,  i.  137 ;  al¬ 
ludes  to  winnowing,  i.  150  ;  taken  to 
Egypt,  i.  169 ;  speaks  of  hired  mourners, 
i.  179  ;  foretells  fall  of  Ascalon,  i.  197 ; 
breaks  earthen  vessel,  i.  238  ;  in  cistern, 
i.  275;  ii.  33;  refeis  to  gardens,  i.  554; 
legend  of,  ii.  19  ;  grotto  of,  ii.  19,  21,  22  ; 
prophecy  of  return,  ii.  159 ;  freed  by  Chal¬ 
dees,  ii.  170 

Jericho  rebuilt  by  Herod,  i.  55  ;  city  of  palms, 

i.  2' '7  ;  desolate  road  to,  ii.  67  ;  former 
fertility  round,  ii.  75 ;  site  of  ancient,  ii. 
77,78;  ancient,  ii.  78  ;  improved  by  Herod, 

ii.  79  ;  re-peopled,  ii.  79 ;  fortified  by 
Bacchides,  ii.  79  ;  curse  fulfilled,  ii.  79  ; 
palace  of  Herod  at.  ii.  79  ;  Herod’s  death 
at,  ii.  79  ;  threshing,  ii.  81 ;  destroyed,  ii. 
372 

Jeroboam  puts  golden  calf  at  Bethel,  ii.  188 
Jerome,  St.,  i.  27  ;  living  in  cave,  i.  418 ; 
burial  place  of,  i.  419 

Jerusalem,  distance  from  Joppa,  i.  22  ;  depen¬ 
dent  on  cisterns  for  water  supply,  i.  27  ; 
bad  roads  near,  i.  37  ;  Roman  road  from, 
to  Caesarea,  i.  54 ;  fall  of,  i.  63 ;  stones  from 
ancient  theatre  carried  to,  i.  67  ;  Hadrian 
gives  heathen  name  to,  i.  91  ;  formerly 
“  Jebus,’’  i.  126  ;  plateau  of,  i.  126  ;  syca¬ 
mores  in  region  of,  i.  134 ;  market  at,  i.  159  ; 
different  trades  formerly  in  separate 
streets,  i.  160  ;  soldiers  sent  to,  i.  166  ; 
bakers’  quarter  in,  i.  173  ;  Christ  enter¬ 
ing,  i.  2u8  ;  ii.  46,  47  ;  various  natives 
of,  i.  458 — 469,  466  ;  citadel  of,  i.  462,  539 ; 
area  of,  i.  463;  elevation  of  ancient  and 
modern,  i.  464,  543  ;  easy  ascent  to,  i.  468 ; 
streets  of,  i.  471,  472  ;  vegetables  in,  i.  491 ; 
fruit  in,  i.  49l ;  shoemaker's  shop  in,  i.  493  ; 
foreign  wares  of,  i.  493  ;  dress  or  peasants 
in,  i.  494  ;  of  wealthy  in,  i.  494  ;  siege  of, 
by  Titus,  i.  499;  capture  of,  by  Crusad.  rs, 
i.  507 ;  Jewish  quarter  of,  i.  518,  519 ; 
foreign  Jews  in,  l.  519;  destruction  of  by 
Romans  i.  522;  built  by  David,  i.  524; 
strengthened  by  Jebusites,  i.  524  ;  present 
w  alls  of,  i.  527 ;  bishopric  of,  i.  535  ;  re¬ 


ligious  observances  in,  i.  536 ;  limits  of, 
l.  538  ;  religious  sects  in,  i.  538  ;  population 
of.  i.  538  ;  Maliommedan  pilgrims  at,  i. 
538  ;  from  Joppa  gate,  i.  539  ;  pilgrims  to, 
i.  540;  size  of,  under  Solomon  and  David, 

i.  548:  pools  round,  i.  552  ;  royal  gardens 
of,  i.  554  ;  wreckage  of  ancient,  ii.  5  ;  view 
of,  from  Mount  of  Olives,  ii.  11;  slope 
from,  to  Jordan,  ii.  13;  rock  walls  of, 

ii.  16  ;  various  sieges  of,  ii.  28  ;  ancient  life 
in,  ii.  30;  water-supply  of,  ii.  31,  34,  3>; 
water-supply  of  Hezekiah  for,  ii.  32;  as 
military  stronghold,  ii.  38;  late  possession 
of,  by  David,  ii.  38 ;  walls  c  f,  ii.  39,  52  ; 
last  journey  of  Christ  to,  ii.  45;  Christ 
weeping  over,  ii.  47  ;  wealth  of  ancient,  ii. 
54  ;  climate  of,  ii.  56,  57  ;  temperature  of, 
ii.  59;  wind  in,  ii.  61;  road  from,  to 
Jericho,  ii.  66,  68 

Jeshimon,  ii.  129;  wilderness  of,  i.  357 — 359 
Jesse,  i.  428 

Jesuits’  school,  bidon,  ii.  479 
Jewels  worn  by  men  and  women,  i.  253  ;  re¬ 
garded  as  charms,  i.  254 
Jewish  Church  St.  Paul  refers  to,  i.  140  ;  war, 
the  last,  i.  63 

Jews  administrating  justice  “  bef  're  the  gate,” 
i.  21 ;  brick-making  learned  by  the,  i.  51  ; 
conflict  with  Greeks,  i.  63 ;  forbidden  to 
enter  Jerusalem,  i.  91 ;  hatred  of,  by 
heathen  citizens  of  Jamnia,  i.  91;  rising 
against  Romans,  i.  91;  name  of,  for  Bee  - 
zebub,  i.  96;  whitewashing  of  tombs  by, 
i.  99  ;  triumph  over  Gaza  by  the,  i.  186  ; 
pray  towards  Jerusalem,  i.  204;  hostility 
to  the,  i.  332;  religious  exactness  or,  in 
Jerusalem,  i.  519,  520;  legend  concern  ng 
religion  of  the,  i.  532;  mission  to  the, 

i.  535 ;  numerous  in  Tiberias,  ii.  318 ; 
isolation  of  the,  ii.  369;  traders,  not 
agriculturists,  ii.  504 

Jezebel,  i.  561 ;  death  of,  ii.  264 

Jezreel,  death  of  Saul  and  Jonathan  at,  i.  120; 

ii.  216;  luxury  of,  ii.  263;  ruins  at,  ii. 
263  ;  taken  from  Canaanites,  ii.  263  ;  tower 
of,  ii.  263,  265 

Jiljilieli,  ii.  196 

Joab,  Adonijah  and,  i.  556;  Joab  climbs 
water-shaft,  i.  126;  murders  .»bner,  i. 
167 ;  murders  Amasa,  ii.  169 ;  quells  re¬ 
bellion,  ii.  389 
Jo  ish  kills  Zacharias,  ii.  2 
Job,  mention  of  clay  houses  by,  i.  53;  speaks 
of  “dew”  as  of  abiding  prosperity, i.  74 ; 
reference  to“teben,  ’i.  88;  alludes  to  moun¬ 
tain  torrent,  i.  121 ;  friends  of,  compared 
to  winter  torrent,  i.  125  ;  speaks  of  olives 
growing  on  stony  ground,  i.  138  ;  compares 
Leviathan  to  a  thresliing-sledge,  i.  148  ; 
alludes  to  winnowing,  i.  151  ;  sitting  on 
dust-hill,  i.  189  ;  reference  to  torrent  bed 
by,  i.  215 

Job’s  Well,  or  En  Bogel,  i.  555 — 557  ;  ii.  34 
Joel,  Prophet,  refers  to  locusts,  i.  393 
John  the  Baptist,  St.,  alludes  to  hurting 
chaff,  i.  151;  in  solitude,  i.  390  ;  preaching 
of,  ii.  88  ;  monastery  of,  ii.  149  ;  at  Salem, 
ii.  229  ;  tradition  of  burial  of,  ii.  23 
John,  St.,  speaks  of  mystical  Babylon,  i.  117 
John  M  tccaba3us  taken  by  Ammonites,  i.  4u0 
Johnites,  Order  of,  i.  486,  487 
Jonah  took  passage  from  Joppa,  i.  22 
Jonathan,  youngest  of  the  Maccabees,  i.  23 
Jonathan  found  honey  in  a  rock,  i.  50  ;  cove¬ 
nants  with  David,  i.  357  ;  assails  Philistine 
camp,  ii.  173—175,  180;  body  of,  hung  on 
walls,  ii.  256 

Jonathan  priest  of  Dan,  i.  430 
Jonathan  and  Aliimaaz,  i.  557 
Joppa,  first  landing-place  from  south,  i.  1; 


INDEX, 


521 


harbour  unsafe  for  large  vessels,  i.  1 ; 
antiquity  of,  i.  1 ;  former  entrances  to 
harbour  of,  i.  3  ;  dangerous  entrance  to,  i. 
3 ;  f<  ul  condition  of  streets  of,  i.  4 ; 
appearance  of,  from  sea,  i.  6;  durability 
of  buildings  in,  i,  10  ;  shops  of,  i.  11;  ir¬ 
regularity  of  streets  in,  i.  11 ;  bazaar  at,  i, 
13;  almost  total  destruction  of,  i.  21  ;  re¬ 
built,  i.  iil ;  port  destroyed  by  sand,  i.  22  ; 
distance  from  Jerusalem,  i.  22;  Jewish, 
first  under  Maccabees,  i.  23 ;  assigned  to 
tribe  of  Dan,  i.  23  ;  population  of,  i.  24  ; 
various  fortunes  of,  i.  24 ;  Cornelius  sends 
to,  i.  59;  southern  boundary  of  Sharon,  i. 
76;  gard  ns  <4,  reclaimed  from  sand,  i. 
121 ;  gate,  i.  457,  539 ;  ii.  26,  28,  29  ;  road, 
i.  458 

Joram  slain  by  Jehu,  ii.  264 
Jordan,  the,  i.  86  ;  lion  bones  found  at,  i,  101  ; 
Arabs  near,  i,  116  ;  valley  of  sycamores  in, 

i.  134  ;  plains  of,  time  of  reaping  on,  i.  146  ; 
low  level  of,  ii.  13,  71  ;  plains  of,  ii.  68,  69  ; 
“swellings  of,”  ii.  70,  87,  97;  vegetation 
near,  ii.  86,  87  ;  different  beds  of,  ii.  86,  87  ; 
width  of,  ii.  87  ;  animals  at,  ii.  87 ;  Israe¬ 
lites  crossing,  ii.  83,  89  ;  men  of  Gad  swim, 

ii.  88  ;  early  Christian  baptisms  in,  ii.  91 ; 
reverence  for  waters  of,  ii.  91 ;  length  of, 
ii.  91,  98;  seasons  of  baptism  in,  ii.  92,  93  ; 

’  bathing  in,  ii.  94,  106 ;  heat  at,  ii.  97 ; 
sources  of,  ii.  97,  386;  meaning  of,  ii. 
97  ;  boundary  of,  ii.  97  ;  descent  of,  ii.  97, 
98,  100  ;  vegetation  near,  ii.  98  ;  irregular 
course  of,  ii.  98,  100;  for  i  of,  near  Lake 
of  Galilee,  ii.  99 ;  tributaries  of  the,  ii, 
100,  385  ;  valley  of,  various  widths  of,  ii. 
100,  101;  different  fords  at,  ii.  100;  pecu¬ 
liarities  of,  ii.  100  ;  ancient  ferr*  -boat  on, 
ii.  100;  springs  flowing  into,  ii.  101;  boat 
on,  ii.  102  —  104;  description  of  journey 
down,  ii.  102  — 104;  salt  springs  enter¬ 
ing,  ii.  1°2  ;  channel  of,  ii.  219;  fording, 
ii.  350  ;  west  bank  of,  ii.  355  ;  cultivation  of 
marsh-land  near,  ii.  356 ;  marshes  of,  ii.  370 
Joseph  put  in  cistern,  i.  275  ;  sends  for  Jacob, 
i.  369 ;  tomb  of,  i.  483 ;  ii.  212;  sale  of,  ii. 
244,  245 

Joseph  of  Arimathsea,  tomb  of,  ii.  20 
Josephus,  describes  harbour  at  Joppa,  i.  4; 
mentions  Antipatris  i.  55  ;  speaks  of  stone 
for  Caesarea,  i.  64 ;  fortifies  Tiberias,  ii. 
322  ;  fortifies  Tabor,  ii.  397 
Joshua  at  Ai,  i.  37  ;  buried  at  Tibneb,  i.  47  ; 
“  tells ”  spoken  of  by,  i.  52,  note  ;  tomb  of, 

i.  48,  49,  205  ;  death  of,  i.  8+ ;  assigns  sea- 
coast  to  Judah,  i.  84  ;  Ekron  assigned  to 
Judah  and  Dan  in  turn  by,  i.  93;  puts  to 
death  the  five  kings  at  Maklcedah,  i.  96  ; 
“removes  shoes,”  i.  162  ;  overreaclie  I  by 
Gib  onit  s,  i.  286  ;  overcomes  Amorites, 

ii.  169  ;  memorial-'toue  of,  ii.  208  ;  writing 
law,  ii.  218  ;  defeats  .labin,  ii.  371,  333 

Josiali  destroys  teraphim,  i.  447  ;  uproots 
Moloch  worship,  i.  516  ;  uproots  idolatry, 
ii.  189 ;  deatli  of,  ii.  260 
Jotham  repaii'3  w  alls  of  Zion,  i.  549 
Jotham’s  parable  of  the  thorn,  ii.  73,  216 
“  Journey  to  Egypt,  the,”  i.  369 
Jubal,  “organ”  of,  i.  217 
Judaea,  mountains-of,  i.  35,  83,  98  ;  conforma¬ 
tion  of,  ii.  147 

Judah,  uplands  of,  i.  10;  tribe  of,  i.  28 ;  the  pat¬ 
riarch,  i.  29  ;  assigne  *  sea-coast  bv  Joshua, 
i.  81;  holds  Ekr  m,  Ascalon,  and  Gaza,  i. 
84  ;  Hittites  living  in  mountains  of,  i.  86  ; 
Amorites  dwe  ling  in  mountains  of,  i.  86  ; 
Ekron  assigned  to,  by  Joshua,  i.  93  ;  corn- 
lands  of,  i.  1('7 ;  mountains  of,  i.  119; 
signet  ring  of,  i.  170;  boundary  of,  ii.  66; 
invaded  by  Moab  and  Ammon,  ii.  116 


Judas  Maccabseus  defeats  Lysias,  i.  373  ;  killed 
at  Tekoa,  i.  40  J 

Judges,  days  of  the,  i.  36  ;  Shamgar,  one  of,  i. 
84 ;  period  of,  i.  85 

Judgment  quick,  i.  166;  on  Jews  for  cruci¬ 
fixion,  i.  522 

Judith  calms  fear  of  Holofernes,  i.  12;  kills 
Holof ernes,  i.  95 
Juniper,  i.  257,  258 
Juno,  statue  of  Rome  deified  as,  i.  62 
Jupiter  Olympus,  statue  of  Augustus  as,  i.  62 
Justinian,  i.  507  ;  ruins  of  church  of,  ii.  218 
Jutta,  i.  324,  376 

Juttah,  possible  birthplace  of  the  Baptist,  i. 
347 

Juvenal,  mention  of  locusts  by,  i.  78 

Knabah  at  Mecca,  ii.  29 
Kabatiyeh,  ii.  244,  245 
Kabul,  ii.  301 

Kadesh,  Barak  born  at,  ii.  373 ;  Roman  re¬ 
mains  at,  ii.  374 

Kadi,  a,  i.  165 ;  visit,  from,  i.  183 

Kalkilieli,  ancient  Gilgal,  i.  57 

Kankab,  ii.  301 

Kart  ha,  i.  138 

Kashabeh,  aorge  of,  i.  125 

Ka-imieh,  known  as  Leontes  or  Litany,  ii.  493 

Katana,  ii.  415 

Kedron,  i.  503,  505,  508;  Valley,  i.  557,  559;  ii. 
5,  28 

Kefiyeh,  i.  5,  13,  14,  87 ;  ii.  360 
Kefr  Ana,  i.  28 
Kefr  Haris,  ii.  205. 

Kefr  Ho  war,  ii.  405,  412 
Kefr  Ishna,  i.  49 

Kefr  Saba,  formerly  identified  with  Anti¬ 
patris,  i.  54;  picturesque  appearance  of,  i. 
56  ;  meaning  of,  i.  56,  67 
Keilah  rescued  from  Philistines,  i.  109:  refuge 
of  Abiathar,  i.  110  ;  walled  city  in  time  of 
David,  i.  110  ;  people  of,  about  to  betrav 
David,  i.  Ill  ;  escape  of  David  from,  i.  Ill 
Kerak,  ii.  13  ;  the  ancient  Taricheea,  ii.  350 
Kerayeh,  Wady,  ii.  354 
Kersha,  “steep  place,”  ii.  251 
Keseifeh,  ruins  of,  i.  265 
Kliamasa  (Emmaus  ?),  ruins  of.  ii.  143 
Khan,  ruins  of  a  mediaeval,  i.  128  ;  ruins  of  a, 
i.  133  ;  man  in  charge  receives  gratuity, 
i.  168;  at  Ga/a,  i.  168;  i.  169;  ii.  191,  454; 
at  Hebron,  i.  263;  on  chief  roads,  ii.  204; 
at  Acre,  ii.  297  ;  at  El-Tujjar,  ii.  307,  331 ; 
at  Sidon,  ii.  479 

Khan  Minieh,  ii.  331,  337,  341,  344,  352 
Khan  Yusef,  ii.  361 
Khersa,  ii.  350 
Khulda,  village  of,  i.  97 
Kliurbet-el-Yehud,  ii.  136 
Khurbet  Erma,  surroundings  of,  ii.  144  ;  ruius 
of,  ii.  145 

Khureituu,  cave  of,  i.  395,  397,  398  ;  village  of, 

i.  397 

Kibbieb,  hamlet  of,  i.  43 

Kids,  superstition  concerning,  i.  234 

Kings,  Hebrew,  i.  36  ;  consult  ephod,  i.  110 

Kiriath  Arba,  meaning  of,  i.  326 

Kirjath  Jearim,  meaning  of,  i.  66 ;  ii.  144; 

ii.  145 

Kishon,  ii.  246,  247, 262  ;  ford  of,  ii.  287;  mouth 
of,  ii.  295 

Kissii  g  hands,  i.  143,  306,  443 
Knights  of  St.  .Jolm,  ruins  of  hospital  of,  i.  4S3 
Knives  found  in  Joshua’s  tomb,  i.  48 
Kolonieh,  reputed  site  of  Emmaus,  ii.  144, 
150,  151 ;  charms  of,  ii.  151 
Koordistan,  “  preparing”  way  in,  i.  56 
Koran,  chanting  from,  i.  178;  texts  from,  over 
doors,  ii.  214 
Kurds,  dress  of,  i.  308 


522 


INDEX. 


Kusr  Hajlah,  ruins  of,  ii.  85 
Kypros,  lortress,  ii.  79 

Laban,  i.  27 

Labour,  forced,  by  Jewish  kings,  i.  22  ;  ii.  18  ; 
cheap,  ii.  194 

Labyrinth,  subterranean,  of  Cg,  i.  301,  302 
Lahai-roi,  i.  354 

Laisb,  probable  derivation  of  the  name,  i.  101 ; 

called  Dan,  ii.  388  ;  capture  of,  ii.  3S9 
Lake,  ancient,  ii.  10 2 
Lambs,  care  for,  i.  223,  225 
Lame  man,  cured  by  St.  John  and  St.  Peter, 
i.  513 

Lamps,  hung  out  by  private  persons,  i.  11 ; 
scarcity  of,  at  night,  i.  11 ;  found  in  tombs, 

i.  28  ;  burning,  placed  in  tomb  in  honour 
of  dead,  i.  48  ;  used  by  Jeremiah  as  simile 
of  impending  ruin,  i.  117  ;  bad  omen,  if  let 
out,  i.  117  ;  used  by  St.  John  as  simile 
of  mystical  Babylon,  i.  117  ;  figurative  use 
of  in  promise  to  David,  i.  117  ;  perpetually 
burning,  i.  337  ;  burning  at  night,  ii.  193 

Lance,  i.  105 

Laud  breeze,  i.  2  ;  arable,  i.  35, 135  ;  cultivated 
by  peasants  from  a  distance,  i.  57  ;  of 
Shual,  meaning  of,  i.  li>2  ;  pasture,  i.  135  ; 
distribution  of,  ii.  152  ;  sinking  towards 
Dead  Sea,  ii.  172  ;  uncultivated  tracts  of, 

ii.  239 

Land-gate,  i.  21 
“  Landmarks,”  i.  421  ;  ii.  153 
Lindscape  of  Palestine  formerly  richer  than 
at  present,  i.  66 
Lantern,  i.  11 

Lark  on  S baron,  i.  42  ;  fifteen  species  of,  in 
Palestine,  i.  143 
Latron,  ii.  181 

Latrun,  once  the  supposed  birth-place  of  the 
Maccabees,  i.  43  ;  may  possibly  be  Modiu, 
i.  43 

Latter  rain,  waiting  for  the,  i.  272 
Lattice,  i.  11 ;  work,  a  feature  of  the  East, 
i.  11. 

Lava,  ii.  403,  405 

Lazarus,  possible  tomb  of,  ii.  41—43  ;  St., 
church  at  the,  ii.  43 
Leathern  girdle,  i.  218 

Lebanon,  i.  82  ;  ii.  249  ;  cedar  of,  i.  92  ;  ii. 
450;  torreut  from,  i.  124  ;  dress  of  people 
on,  ii.  410  ;  heights  of,  ii.  449 
Lebaoth,  probable  derivation  of  name,  i.  101 
Leben  known  from  earliest  ages,  i.  211 ;  a 
strong  soporific,  ii.  262 
Lebonah,  antiquity  of,  ii.  203 
Ledja,  hills  of,  ii.  413 
Ledjun,  ii.  216,  260,  261 
Leeches,  ii.  66 
Leeks,  i.  113 

Legend  of  Prank  Mountain,  i.  389 
Legends,  numerous,  respecting  Church  of 
Holy  Sepulchre,  i.  485  ;  of  Christ,  i.  453  : 
of  the  Cross,  ii.  133 
Legio,  Ledjun,  ii.  246,  261 
Lemons,  orchards  of,  i.  6  ;  baskets  of,  carried 
on  head,  i.  87 
Lemon-trees,  ii.  139 
Lentils,  i.  14,  159 ;  properties  of,  i.  441 
Leontes,  known  as  Kasimieh  or  Litany,  ii. 

Lepers,  i.  528 ! ;  ii.  5  ;  begging,  i.  540  ;  inBeth- 
any,  n.  42  ;  outside  city,  ii.  240 
Leprosy,  i.  529  ;  ii.  240  ;  cleansing  from,  i. 
530;  extinguished,  i.  530;  legends  con- 
cermng,  i.  531 ;  brought  from  Egypt  i. 
53^  ;  prevalence  of,  in  antiquity,  i.  533  • 
from  msects,  i.  533 
Letter-writer,  i.  488 
Levantines,  dress  of,  i.  2 
Lovite,  crime  against  wife  of,  ii.  163 


Levites,  i.  27,  88 
Libations,  fountains  for,  i.  103 
Life  among  ancient  Hebrews,  i.  170;  domes¬ 
tic,  of  peasants,  ii.  192,  193  | 

Light,  i.  4;  perpetually  burning,  i.  19  ;  East¬ 
ern  love  of,  i.  115  ;  burning  all  night,  i. 
117  ;  oil  used  for,  i.  139 
Lilies,  very  few  in  Palestine,  i.  40 
Lily  of  the  valley,  allusion  to,  by  Christ,  i.  40  ; 

various  flowers  identified  with,  i.40 
Limestone,  hhls  of,  i.  30,  58 
Lions,  i.  66,  402  ;  roaring  of,  com  pared  to 
anger  of  king,  i.  74;  five  words  for,  in 
Biide,  i.  101 ;  lately  brought  to  Damascus, 
i.  101;  bones  of,  fo"nd  in  gravel  of  Jordan, 
i.  101 ;  none  in  Palestine  now,  i.  219  ;  not 
feared  by  Arabs,  i.  220 

Litany,  river,  ii.  391 ;  known  as  Leontes  or 
Kasimieh,  ii.  493 

Livia,  wife  of  Augustus,  inherits  Jamnia, 
i.  90 

Lizard,  a  large,  i.  66 
Loaves  and  fishes,  i.  92 

Locust-tree,  i.  77  ;  appearance  of  fruit  of,  i.  73 ; 
fruit  of,  falls  as  soon  as  dry,  i.  78  ;  fruit 
of,  gives  name  t  o  smallest  Hebrew  weight, 
i.  78;  enormous  quantity  of  fruit  of,  ex¬ 
ported,  i.  78 ;  fruit  ripe  in  April  and 
Mav.  i.  78  ;  a  str  king  object  in  landscape, 
i.  78  ;  herds  driven  under  the,  i.  78  ;  im¬ 
mense  harvests  from,  i.  78  ;  provides  food 
for  pigs,  horses,  and  cattle,  i.  78  ;  fruit  of, 
used  as  food  by  the  very  poorest  in  time 
of  Christ,  i.  78  ;  mention  of,  by  Horace, 
i.  78 ;  mention  of,  by  Juvenal,  i.  78 ; 
thought  by  monks  to  be  the  food  of  St. 
John  the  Baptist,  i.  79 

Locusts  (insect),  Arab  m  *de  of  preparing,  i. 
79  ;  eaten  by  beggars  in  Egypt  and  N  ubia,  i. 
79  ;  the  food  of  John  the  Baptist,  i.  79,  SO  ; 
extensively  eafen  by  Bedouins,  i.  79  ;  time 
of  gathering,  i.  79  ;  mode  of  serving,  i.  79 ; 
sold  by  measure,  i.  79  ;  an  advantage  to 
olive-trees,  i.  142  ;  ravages  of,  i.  391—395  ; 
ceremonially  “  clean,”  i.  394  ;  precautions 
against,  i.  394  ;  word  for,  in  Bible,  i.  394  ; 
varieties  of,  i.  402 

Lodgings  for  pilgrims  in  Joppa,  i.  18 
Loom,  a  primitive,  i.  169 
Lot  rescued  by  Abraham,  ii.  387 
Lowlands,  rich,  reason  why  Jews  could  not 
gain  possession  of,  i.  36 
Lubieh,  ii.  309 
Ludd,  ste*  Lydd  1 
Luke,  St.,  i.  124,  169 
Lunar  rainbow,  i.  73 

Lun  dies,  reverence  for,  i.  120  ;  dangerous, 
confined  in  Egypt,  i.  120;  harmless,  let 
wander  at  large,  i.  120 
Lupins,  i.  69,  81 

Lydda,  or  Ludd,  i.  25,  29,  35,  43,  93 ;  reputed 
birthplace  of  St.  George,  i.  31 ;  early  Chris¬ 
tian  community  at,  i.  32 ;  contrast  between 
present  and  former  condition  of,  i.  32  ;  an¬ 
cient  road  to  Jerusalem  through,  i.  39 
Lynch  law,  i.  166 

Maaleh  Akrabbim,  ii.  348 
Maocabaeau  Brothers,  Church  of  the,  i.  43 
Maccabees,  th  >,  birthplace  of,  i.  43;  sup¬ 
posed  burial-place  of,  i.  44;  inscription 
dating  from  time  of,  i.  97 ;  revenge  of,  i. 
40J  ;  flight  of,  from  Baccliides,  i.  400 
Maccabeus,  Simon,  enters  Jerusalem,  i.  208 
Machaeru-,  ii.  14 

Machpelah,  Cave  of,  i.  334,  335;  eleventh-cen¬ 
tury  description  of,  i.  337 
Madmen,  see  Madmeuah 

Madmenali,  town  of  Benjamin,  i.  152  ;  referred 
to  by  Jeremiah,  i.  152  ;  famous  for 


INDEX. 


523 


threshing-floors,  i.  152 ;  origin  of  name,  i. 
157 

Magdala,  ii.  327  ;  misery  of  ii.  329 
Mahomet  prohibits  wine,  i.321  ;  ascent  of,  on 
rock,  i.  505  ;  rules  of,  for  praj  er,  ii.  409 
Mahommedan  legend  respecting  Christ  nt 
Joppa,  i.  19  ;  Sunday,  ii.  29  ;  prayer,  ii.  176, 
406,  407  ;  nations,  religious  zeal  of,  ii.  410 
Mahommedans,  mosque  regarded  as  sacred 
by,  i.  19  ;  intolerance  of,  ii.  430 
Maimonides,  s_rave  of,  ii.  323 
Maize  ripens  late,  i.  146 
Malcbiyeb,  ii.  285,  286 
Makom,  meaning  of,  ii.  186 
Malkah,  village,  ii.  134 
Malta,  no  snakes  in,  i.  248 
la-mas  fountains,  i.  67 
Mamelukes,  Joppa  under  tbe,  i.  24 
Manasseh,  tribe  of,  i.  69  ;  consults  sorcerers, 
i.  243  ;  children  of,  offered  to  Moloch,  i. 
290  ;  repairs  fortifications  of  Zion,  i.  519  ; 
high-priest,  ii.  226 
Mandrakes,  i.  444 
Mantles,  i.  2 

Manufactures  of  Hebron,  i.  331  ;  of  Sidon,  ii. 
477 

Manure,  none  put  on  olive-trees,  i.  142;  not 
used  in  grain-fields,  i.  151 
Manuscripts  at  Mar  Saba,  ii.  126  ;  ancient,  at 
JNIablus,  ii.  222,  226 
Maon,  i.  348,  351 
Maralah,  meaning  of,  i.  103 
Marcus  Aurelius,  inscription  of,  ii.  472 
Marianme,  tower  of,  i.  464 
Market,  at  Joppa,  i.  11 ;  at  El-Mejdel,  i.  137 ; 
at  Bethlenem,  i.  412 

Marks  on  the  hands,  i.  14  ;  religious,  on  per¬ 
son,  referred  to  by  St.  John,  i.  15;  sins 
marked  on  hands  by  God,  i.  16 
Marnas,  god  of  Gaza,  i.  163 
Maronite  chapel,  Lebanon,  ii.  450 
Marriage,  feast,  i.  101 ;  early,  i.  183;  among 
Arabs,  i.  289 ;  with  next-of-kin,  i.  426, 
4 i7  ;  in  clans,  i.  438  ;  customs  in  East, 

i.  439,  440;  custom  at  Nablus,  ii.  215; 
customs  at  Nazareth,  ii.  284 

Mar  Saba,  route  to,  ii.  122  ;  situation  of,  ii. 
123 — 125,  129  ;  rules  of,  ii.  125 ;  interior  of, 

ii. 125  ;  library  at,  ii.  126  ;  refectory  :it,  ii. 
127 ;  various  nationalities  at,  ii.  127  ;  in¬ 
tense  heat  at,  ii.  129 ;  intense  silence  at, 
ii.  129  ;  landscape  near,  ii.  130 ;  monks  of, 
ii.  132 

Marsh  mallow,  thought  by  some  to  be  the 
“  lily  of  the  valley,”  i.  40 
Marsh,  on  Plain  of  Sharon,  i.  57  ;  at  Dor,  i. 
69  ;  treacherous,  i.  71  ;  near  Mukhalid,  i. 
76  ;  drainage  of,  by  R  unans,  i.  77 ;  for¬ 
merly  overflowing  wadys,  i.  128;  lands,  ii. 
381,  3 84 

Martyrdom  of  St.  George,  i.  31 

Mary,  the  Virgin,  i.  169;  Magdalen,  ii.  329 

Masada,  i.  27 

Masonry,  remains  of,  at  Athlit,  i.  69  ;  nume¬ 
rous  remains  on  talde-landat  Tell  es  Safieb, 
i.  118  ;  of  Herod’s  towers,  i.  464,  465 
Maternal,  dress,  Palestine,  ii.  411 
Mats  used  for  sha  'e,  i.  161 ;  of  reeds,  ii.  383 
Meadow  saffron,  thought  by  some  to  be  the 
“rose  of  Sharon,”  i.  41 

Meal  at  El  Safieli,  description  of,  i.  113;  in 
Arab  tent,  i.  284 ;  in  rich.house  in  Hebron, 
i.  366 

Meal,  wheat,  spiced,  i.  113 
Measuring  corn,  i.  288 

Mecca,  prayers  offered  looking  towards,  i.  1 13, 
201 ;  ii.  207 

Medical  help  unknown  among  peasantry,  ii. 
379 

Mcdieh,  village  of,  ancient  Modin,  i.  43,  44 


Medina,  locust  s^ops  at,  i.  79 
Mediterranean,  i.  96,  183;  deep  blue  of,  i.  118; 

sharks  in,  i.  371 
Mefjir,  river,  i.  57 

Megidil  o,  1  attle  of,  i.  450 ;  lasting  remembrance 
of,  ii.  260 
Meiron,  ii.  367 
Me. j del,  see  Magdala 
Mel  earth,  ii.  498 

Melons,  harvest,  description  of,  i.  72  ;  a  thou¬ 
sand  boats’  full  each  summe-,  i.  72 ; 
district  for,  i.  72  :  ripen  late,  i  146 
Memento  sellers,  i.  473 
Memorial,  articles  burnt  as,  ii.  212 
Men  idling,  i.  158  ;  fine  figures  of,  i.  136  ;  of 
Dit  on,  i.  560 

Menafiem  of  Samaria  sends  oil  to  Pharaoh,  i. 

80  ;  seeks  support  from  Pharaoh,  i.  80 
Meonenim,  oak  of  the,  ii.  209 
Merchants  translated  by  “Canaanites  ”  in 
Hebrew,  i.  86,  note 

Merom,  plains  of,  i.  37;  sea  of,  ii.  98,  370; 

battle  at,  ii.  370,  371 ;  scenes  at,  ii.  380 
Mesa,  cisterns  in  each  dwelling,  i.  26;  memo¬ 
rial  of,  on  stone,  i.  26 
Mesopotamia,  i.  93 

Messiah,  Bircochba  accepted  as  the.  i.  91; 

ideas  of,  prevalent  in  lime  of  Christ,  i.  92 
Metal  used  for  overlaying  gates,  &c.,  i.  514 
Metawilehs,  fanatical  sect,  ii.  369,  478,  499 
Meteors,  fall  of,  ii.  263 

Mezbele  used  as  lounging-place,  i.  157  ;  vil¬ 
lages  built  on,  i.  157  ;  gives  name  to  places, 
i.  157 ;  outcasts  sleep  on,  i.  157 
Mezzeh,  ii.  415 
“  Mezuzah,”  ii.  481 

Micah,  Prophet,  i.  59  ;  reference  to  Gath  by, 
i.  121 ;  prophecy  concerning  Hethlehem,  i. 
430  ;  prophecy  of,  fulfilled,  i.  469 
Mice,  numerous  varieties  of,  in  Palestine,  i. 
94 ;  destructiveness  of,  i.  94 ;  at  Ekron, 
i.  94;  images  of,  sent  by  Philistines  to 
propitiate  .lehovah,  i.  132 
Michal  serves  David,  i.  447 
Michma-h,  ii.  170,  172,  175,  176,  178 
Midianites  overruu  Esdrcelon,  ii.  257 ;  over¬ 
come  by  Gideon,  ii.  257,  258 
Militai’y  road,  i.  194 ;  service,  plans  to  escape, 

i.  303,  304 

Militia,  Hebrew,  i.  37 

Milk,  i.  17,  81 ;  carried  in  jars  on  shoulders  of 
girls,  i.  87 ;  staple  article  of  food,  i. 
211,  213;  farming,  i.  214;  goats’,  i.  311; 

ii.  176 

Mill,  oil,  i.  141 ;  flour,  i.  174;  symbol  of  joy,  i. 

174;  ruins  of  ;  ncient,  ii.  75,  77 
Millet,  fields  of,  i.  70,  139 
Millicent,  Queen,  ii.  9,  43 

Millstone,  forbidden  to  be  taken  in  pledge, 

i.  117,  175 ;  referred  to  by  Christ,  i.  175  ; 

ii.  161 

Minaret,  campanile-like,  i.  35 
k'linarets  on  mosque,  i.  5,  136,  158 
Minet  Rubin,  ancient  port,  i  89  ;  large  popu¬ 
lation  of,  in  ancient  times,  i.  89 
Mirabel,  ruins  of,  i.  55 

Miracle  of  loaves  and  fishes,  i.  92  ;  feeding  the 
multitudes,  ii.  340 

Mirage,  the,  i.  355  ;  reference  to,  by  Isaiah,  i. 
356 

Mishua,  ii.  323 
Mishor,  i.  27 

Mis-ionaries,  medical,  need  of,  ii.  394;  Ameri¬ 
can,  ii.  462 

Missionary,  English,  at  Nazareth,  i.  66,  166  ; 

enterprises  at  Nazareth,  ii.  270,  271 
Missions  in  Jerusalem,  ii.  155;  at  Damascus, 
ii.  433  ;  in  Baalbek,  ii.  446 ;  schools,  at 
Beirout,  ii.  466;  American,  at  Sidon,  ii. 
479 


524 


INDEX. 


Mist,  morning,  i.  73, 75 ;  reference  to,  by  Isaiah.,  I 
i.  75  ;  he^t  of  early  day  tempered  by,  i.  75  ; 
gives  sufficient  moisture  for  garden,  i.  181 
Mizpeh,  i.  27  ;  ii.  1l4  ;  incidents  connected 
with,  ii.  167 

Moab,  i.  118, 152  ;  mountains  of,  i.  73  ;  Amor- 
ites  in,  i.  86 ;  to  be  “  laid  low,”  i.  152 ; 
invades  Judah,  ii.  116 
Moats,  remnants  of,  at  Caesarea,  i.  64 
Modin, birth  and  burial  place  of  Maccabees,  i.43 
IVIohar,  Egyptian  travels  of,  i.  36  ;  ii.  445 
Moisture  from  night  sea- winds,  i.  72;  ii.  84; 
none  in  summer  air  to  form  dew,  i.  72  ; 
large  amount  of,  during  night,  i.  73 ;  ii.  501 
Moladah,  ruins  of,  i.  265 

Mole,  sea,  at  Joppa,  i.  3 ;  ancient,  in  harbour 
of  Caesarea,  i.  63 ;  destruction  of,  at  Caesa¬ 
rea,  i.  64. 

Mole-rat,  called  weasel  in  English  Bible,  i. 
141  ;  delights  in  ruins,  i.  144 ;  mounds  of 
the,  i.  141;  description  of  the,  i.  141 
Moloch,  worship  of,  i.  546 ;  worshipped  as 
image  of  destruction,  i.  547 
Monasteries,  motives  for  retiring  to,  ii.  123; 
fortified,  ii.  124 

Monastery,  Greek,  i.  18 ;  of  Elias,  i.  453  ;  view 
from,  i.  454 ;  Armenian,  i.  456,  462 ;  Ar¬ 
menian,  legends  of,  i.  534  ;  ruins  of,  ii. 
85;  of  John  the  Baptist,  ii.  149;  on 
Mount  Tabor,  ii.  279;  Carmelite,  ii.  294; 
Franciscan,  at  Acre,  ii.  297 ;  Franciscan, 
at  Sidon,  ii.  479 

Money  spent  by  pilgrims  in  Joppa,  i.  18!; 
murder  expiated  by,  i.  167  ;  weighed,  i. 
341 ;  carried  in  girdle,  i.  494  ;  changers  of, 
in  Temple,  i.  513 

Monks,  locust-tree  named  “  St.  John’s  bread  ” 
by,  i.  79;  fare  of,  at  Mar  Saba,  ii.  126; 
appearance  of,  at  Mar  Saba,  ii.  132 
Monuments,  Egyptian,  i.  86 
Moon  Pool,  the,  i.  21,  22 
Morag,  Hebrew  word  still  retained,  i.  148 
Morning  in  the  East,  i.  117 
Mortar,  absence  of.  in  mud  houses,  i.  53;  mixed 
with  teben,  i.  171 

Mortar  for  grinding  coffee-berries,  i.  16,  70 ; 

held  with  feet,  i.  16 ;  of  stone,  i.  82 
Mosaics  at  Church  of  the  Nativity,  i.  414,415 
Moses,  reference  to  Egyptian  mode  of  water¬ 
ing  gardens,  i.  9  ;  reference  to  dew  by,  i. 
74 ;  Hittit  s  in  time  of,  i.  86 ;  requires 
restitution  of  va’ue  destroyed  by  tire,  i. 
115  ;  reference  by,  to  “upper  garment,”  i. 
116 ;  speaks  of  olives  on  stony  ground,  i. 
138;  refers  to  olive  harvest,  i.  140;  re¬ 
quirement  of,  regarding  oxen  used  for 
threshing,  i.  147  ;  at  burning  bush,  i.  162  ; 
tending  sheep,  i.  229 

Moslem  sanctuary,  i.  33  ;  idea  of  heaven,  ii. 

426 ;  manner  of  shaving  head,  ii.  426 
Mosque,  chief,  of  Joppa,  i.  5  ;  on  site  of  the 
house  of  Simon,  at  Joppa,  i.  18  ;  white, 
i.  33 ;  at  Jamnia  formerly  a  Christian 
church,  i.  90 ;  at  Esdud,  i.  128 ;  at  El- 
Mejdel,  i.  136 ;  at  Gaza  originally  Chris¬ 
tian  church,  i.  161,  168;  must  remove 
shoes  on  entering,  i.  162 ;  at  Heb'  ou,  i. 
331 — 338;  at  Neby  Yunas,  i.  370;  of  Omar, 
i.  503,  504 ;  possible  builders  of,  i.  .c06, 
507;  p’obable  date  of,  i.  507;  El-Aksa, 

i.  507  ;  praying  before,  ii.  29 ;  at  Bet  Han- 
nina,  ii.  165  ;  at  Nablus,  ii.  215,;  at  Samaria, 

ii.  232,  233  ;  grand,  at  Damascus,  ii.  430 
Mosques,  at  Damascus,  ii.  434 
Mosquito  curtains,  i.  95  ;  ii.  349 
Mottoes,  S'cred,  ii.  480 

Mount  Moriah,  early  use  of,  a-  threshing-floor, 
i.  87  ;  altar  of  Temple  on,  i.  505  ;  associa¬ 
tions  of,  i.  505  ;  I-aac  to  be  offered  on,  i. 
505 ;  ride  up,  ii.  52 


Mount  Nebo,  ii.  14 
Mount  of  Corruption,  i.  560 
Mount  of  Offence,  ii.  40,  41 
Mount  of  Olives,  oil-vat  at  foot  of,  i.  141,  469  ; 
ii.  40,  41 ;  ascent  of,  ii.  9,  10 ;  view  of 
Jerusalem  from,  ii.  11,  12  ;  sacred  memo¬ 
ries  connected  with,  ii.  15 ;  excavations 
on,  ii.  27 

Mount  Pisgah,  ii.  14 

Mount  Scopus,  ii.  12  ;  view  from,  ii.  156 ;  in¬ 
cidents  connected  with,  ii.  156 
Mount  Zion,  height  of,  i.  463,  469 ;  ii.  38 ; 
palaces  on,  i.  525  ;  view  from,  i.  545 ;  water 
supply  of,  ii.  36 

Mountains  at  Gath,  i.  131 ;  of  Judah,  i.  135; 
ii.  82  ;  near  Er  B-as,  ii.  138  ;  of  Palestine, 
ii.  227 

Mourners,  hired,  i.  175,  176 ;  antiquity  of 
hired,  i.  176 

Mourning,  hired,  falling  into  disfavour,  i.  178 ; 
place  of  Jews,  i.  517 

Mud  houses,  i.  51,  56,  70,  136,  155  ;  huts  com¬ 
pose  village  of  Tautureh,  i.  70  ;  huts  offer¬ 
ing  shelter  to  shepherds,  i.  77  ;  houses  at 
Ashdod,  i.  127 ;  walls  to  courts,  i.  127  ; 
houses,  decay  of,  i.  159  ;  buildings  of,  at 
Damascus,  ii.  419 
Muezzin,  the,  i.  5,  35,  208 ;  ii.  418 
Mukam,  meaning  of,  i.  99 ;  ii  376 
Mukhalid,  village,  i.  71 ;  pasturages  round,  i. 

76  ;  elevation  of,  i.  76 
Mukhinas,  village  of,  ii.  172 
Mulberries,  i.  33,  89 

Mulberry-trees  eaten  by  field  mice,  i.  94 ; 
leaves  of,  given  to  sheep,  i.  145 ;  ii.  456 ; 
trees,  Beirout,  ii.  466 
Mules,  laden,  i.  17  ;  ii.  375 
Murder  in  Gaza,  i.  166 

Murderer,  no  protection  to,  at  altar,  i.  167 ;  to 
be  tried,  i.  168 
Muristau,  i.  486 

Music  before  tents,  i.  217 ;  flocks  following,  i. 

217  ;  Arab,  ii.  338 
Mussulman  saint-,  tomb  of,  i.  99 
Mussnlmen,  village  of,  i.  47 
Myrtle-twigs,  rope  of,  i.  7 
Myrtles,  at  Banias,  ii.  400 

Naaneh,  village  of  ancient  Naamah,  i.  96 
Nabal,  i.  350 

Nablus,  i.  49,  80 ;  watershed  of,  i.  65 ;  mean¬ 
ing  of,  ii.  213 ;  streets  of,  ii.  214  ;  marriage 
custom  at,  ii.  215;  mosque  at,  ii.  215; 
Samaritans  at,  ii.  222 ;  mission  schools  at, 
ii.  224 ;  water  at,  ii.  228 
Naboth,  i.  561 ;  vineyard  of,  ii.  263 
Nahum,  prophecy  against  Assyrians,  i.  115 
Nails  dyed  red,  i.  4b7 
Nain,  funeral  at,  i.  177 ;  ii.  265,  266 
Nakurah,  ii.  235 
Nalia,  village  of,  i.  144,  145,  199 
Narcissus,  i.  39 ;  thought  to  be  “  rose  of 
Sharon,”  i.  40,  58 
Nargileh,  or  water-pipe.  i.  13,  16 
Nathan  overturns  plot  of  Adonijah,  i.  556 
Nationalities,  many  represeuted  in  present 
population  of  Pa'estine,  i.  87 ;  different, 
in  orphanage,  at  Beirout,  ii.  465 
Nations  greater  and  mightier  than  Hebrews, 

i.  87 

Natives,  local  feuds  of,  i.  71 
Navy,  mercantile,  of  Tyre,  ii.  497 
Nazareth,  i.  66;  flies  in  region  of,  i.  95  ;  mis¬ 
sionary  enterprises  at,  ii.  270,  271 ;  foun¬ 
tain  at,  ii.  271 ;  division  of,  ii.  271 ;  spring 
at,  ii.  272;  trades  at,  ii.  274;  approach  to, 

ii.  267  ;  view  of,  ii.  263  ;  view  from,  ii.  283 ; 
marriage  customs  in,  ii.  283,  284 

Nazarite,  i.  45 

Nebuchadnezzar  consults  teraplrim,  i.  447; 


INDEX. 


525 


deports  population,  ii.  423;  campaign 
a gainst  Jerusalem,  ii.  448  :  inscription  of, 
ii.  471 ;  besieges  Tyre,  ii.  509 
Neby  Duhy,  formatiou  of,  ii.  285 
Neby  Samwil,  or  Mizpab,  ii.  12;  extensive  j 
view  from,  ii.  164,  165 
Necropolis,  ancient,  i.  47 
Needles,  tattooing,  i.  15 
Nefeiab,  “  elub-be  iring  ”  Arabs,  i.  76 
Negeb,  i.  216,  346,  347  ;  pasture  of  patriarchs, 
i.  353 ;  abundance  of  water  in,  i.  354 ; 
David’s  wandering  in,  i.  356 
Nehemiah  speaks  of  fowls,  i.  160 ;  rebuilds 
walls  of  Jerusalem,  i.  519 
Nejid,  village  of,  i.  270 

Neptune,  memento  of  deliverance  from  storm 
bung  in  temple  of,  i.  132 
Neronias,  see  Caesarea  Philippi 
Nethinim,  temple  slaves,  i.  549;  ii.  168 
Nets  for  wild  animals,  i.  103 ;  for  loading 
camels,  i.  155  ;  fishing,  ii.  341 — 313 
New  moon,  signals  for,  ii.  99 
Nicanor,  gate  of,  i.  514 ;  defeated,  ii.  170 
Nicodemus,  tomb  of,  i.  483 
Nicomedia,  i.  31 

Night,  plants  refreshed  by  coolness  of  the,  i. 

73  ;  contrast  between  morning  and,  i.  210 
Nile,  customs  from,  followed  by  Jews,  i.  51  ; 
ports  of,  i.  84  ;  flies  on,  i.  95,  96 ;  holy 
men  on,  i.  120 

Nimriin,  Nahr,  “the  River  of  the  Leopards,” 
i.  218 

Nineveh  marb’es,  i.  129 
Nisan,  mouth  of,  i.  146 

Nob,  massacre  of  priests  at,  i.  110,  119;  ta¬ 
bernacle  at,  i.  133;  ii.  158;  possible  sites 
of,  ii.  158 ;  ruin  of,  by  Saul,  ii.  159 
Nose-rings,  i.  253,  254 
Notice,  cast  of,  fr  >m  Temple,  i.  514 
Nubk  thorn,  ii.  72,  80 
Nuns,  cloister  of,  at  Bethany,  ii.  43 

Oaks  on  hills  near  Carmel,  i.  65 ;  stunted,  i. 

71 ;  near  Tabor,  ii.  278 ;  sacred,  ii.  382 
Oak-trees,  i.  35;  evergreen,  i.  47;  “the,”  i. 
50 ;  called  “  Sheikh  et  Teirn,”  i.  49  ;  f«  rest 
of,  i.  58  ;  dwarf,  i.  77,  263  ;  ancient,  at  He¬ 
bron,  i.  324,  325 ;  different  species  of,  ii.  204 ; 

“  of  the  Meonenim,”  ii.  209 
Oarsmen  of  Joppa,  i.  1 
Oases,  i.  33 

Oath,  confirming  treaty  by,  i.  256 
Obadiah,  reputed  burial-place  of,  ii.  233 
Obelisk  recording  Maccabsean  triumphs,  i.  45 
Offerings,  votive,  i.  132 ;  ii.  385  ;  to  dead,  i., 
259  ;  ii.  367 

Og,  King  of  Bashan,  exploration  of  labyrinth 
of,  i.  302 

Oil,  immense  vat  of,  at  Atblit,  i.  69 ;  lamp, 
Arab,  i.  117 ;  harvest,  importance  of,  i. 
138;  north  country  “to  overflow”  with, 
i.  138  ;  largely  exported,  i.  139  ;  .'tores  of, 
David  sets  officer  over,  i.  139 ;  used  at 
worship,  i.  139  ;  used  for  cooking  and  light, 
i.  139  ;  for  anointing  the  person,  i.  139  ;  ob- 
taiuedfrom  squeezingberries,  i.  142 ;  gained 
by  heating  pulp,  i.  141,  142 ;  vats  found 
south  of  Hebron,  i.  141  ;  vats,  remains  of, 
found  in  rocks  where  olive  no  longer 
exists,  i.  141 ;  extracted  by  mills,  i.  Ill ; 
vat  gave  name  to  Gethsemane,  i.  141 ;  im¬ 
perfectly  separated  by  treading,  i.  141  ; 
vat  at  Mount  of  Olives,  i.  141;  David 
speaks  of  “fresh,”  i.  141;  treading  of, 
discontinued,  i.  141 ;  finest,  flowed  from 
berries  when  beaten,  i.  141 ;  finest,  re¬ 
quired  for  religious  services,  i.  141  ;  ex¬ 
tracted  by  presses,  i.  141 ;  press,  ii.  358 
Oleanders,  i.  69,  77 

Olive  trees,  i.  28 ;  ii.  5,  149,  150 ;  orchards,  i. 


30,  111;  ii. r 33 ;  trees  flourish'’ best  near 
Lydda,  i.  30  ;  yards,  i.  33.  90;  grove,  i.  44, 
128 ;  ii.  301 ;  grounds,  i.  56,  144  ;  woods,  i. 
135;  plantations  very  fine  at  E'-Mejdel,  i. 
137  ;  cultivated  before  Hebrew  invasion,  i. 
138;  frequent  allusions  to,  in  Bible,  i.  138; 
trees  enumerated  among  good  things  to 
be  possessed,  i.  138  ;  trees,  David  alludes 
to.  planted  in  the  court  of  t  e  Tabernacle, 
i.  138  ;  to  Hebrews  meant  plenty  and  pros¬ 
perity,  i.  138  ;  a  characteristic  of  landscape 
in  Palestine,  i.  138 ;  bow  propagated,  i. 
139;  trees,  grafting  of,  i.  139;  time  of 
bearing  of,  i.  140 ;  referred  to  by  Isaiab,  i. 
149  ;  mentioned  by  Moses,  i.  140  ;  harvest 
in  October,  i.  1)0;  time  of  gladness,  i.  140  ; 
“  wild,”  meaning  of,  i.  140 ;  lives  long,  i.  140; 
berries,  size  of,  i.  140  ;  soil  under,  ploughed 
each  year,  i.  142  ;  ceases  to  yield  without 
cultivation,  i.  142  ;  groves  near  Mejdel,  i. 
142  ;  groves  of,  surrounding  Gaza,  i.  158; 
plantations,  i.  189;  ii.  394;  aucient,  at 
Gaza,  i.  199;  trees,  shoots  of,  alluded  to 
by  David,  i.  141 ;  each  one  taxed,  i.  141 ; 
numbers  neglected,  i.  141 ;  grove,  at  Sep- 
phoris,  ii.  306 

Olives,  Mount  of,  view  from,  towards  Jordan 
in  early  morning,  i.  73  ;  description  of,  i. 
137 

Olives,  size  of  trees,  i.  137 ;  on  Philistine 
plain,  i.  13S ;  flourish  bevb  on  stony  or 
sandy  soil,  i.  138;  Moses  promises  to  He¬ 
brews,  i.  138  ;  numerous  in  ancient  times, 
i.  138  ;  wild,  i.  139 ;  always  some  left  on 
tree  for  gleaners,  i.  14 ) ;  gathered  by 
shaking  trees  and  beating  with  a  pole,  i. 
H0  ;  gathered  by  women  and  boys,  i.  140; 
fallen  fruit  guarded  till  ordered  to  pick,  i. 
140 ;  formerly  grew  over  wider  region  than 
at  present,  i.  141 ;  gleanings  from,  a  boou 
to  very  poor,  i.  141 ;  in  ancient  times 
pressed  or  trodden  hy  feet,  i.  141 ;  full 
crop  only  each  second  year,  i.  142  ;  mills 
for  extracting  oil  from,  i.  142;  no  crop 
sown  under  trees,  i.  142  ;  pas^d  under 
stone  wheel  to  extract  oil,  i.  142  ;  pruned 
by  locusts,  i.  14  ;  neither  manured  nor 
pruned,  i.  142;  quantities  of,  at  Burbe- 
rali,  i.  145;  beautiful  colours  of,  i.  145; 
ripen  late,  i.  146  ;  antiquity  of,  i.  199  ;  pro¬ 
pagation  of,  i.  199  ;  at  Hebron,  i.  342  ;  in 
Temple  area,  i.  509  ;  age  of,  ii.  243,  245  ;  at 
Banias,  ii.  400 

Omnibus  from  Joppa  to  Jerusalem,  i.  25 
Onions,  Ascalon  famous  for,  i.  192 
Ono,  site  of,  i.  29;  plain  of,  i.  29;  a  Benjamite 
town,  i.  29 
Ophel,  i.  548,  549 

Ophthalmia,  causes  of,  i.  95  ;  prevalence  of,  i. 
182 ;  ii.  201 

Oppression  by  Turks,  i.  200 

Orange-groves  of  Joppa,  i.  6  ;  irrigation  of,  i.  7 

Oi'anges,  mode  of  growing,  i.  7  ;  for  sale,  i.  16  ; 

brought  to  Palestine,  ii.  483 
Orchards,  i.  24,  31,  33,  35,  70,  111,  144,  159  ;  ii. 
244 

Oriental  discourse,  religious  tone  of,  ii.  308 
Origen  found  asylum  in  Caesarea.,  i.  63 
Ornaments,  personal,  i.  253 
Orontes,  i.  8  ;  construction  and  size  of  water¬ 
wheels  on,  i.  8 

Osiris,  missing  members  of,  hung  in  Egyptian 
temples  and  worshipped,  i.  132 
Oven,  flat-topped,  i.  16 

Ox,  blindfolded,  at  water- wheel,  i.  8;  gall  used 
for  tattooing,  i.  15 

Oxen  treading  out  the  corn,  i.  88, 147  ;  plough¬ 
ing  with,  i.  136, 156  ;  muzzling,  that  tread 
the  grain,  i.  147;  ii.  81 ;  yoked  to  threshing- 
sledge,  i.  147 


526 


INDEX. 


Pageant,  a  religious!,  i.  36 
Palace  of  Herod  at  Csesai’ea,  i.  62 
Palaces  on  Mount  Zion,  i.  525,  526 
Palestine,  first  aspect  of,  i.  1  ;  poi’ts  of,  i.  1 ; 
lield  by  Christians,  i.  3  ;  Western,  always 
waterless,  i.  49  ;  origin  of  word,  i.  83 ;  a 
small  country,  i.  83  ;  Central,  conquered 
by  Hebrews,  i.  84;  present  population  of, 
representatives  of  ancient  races,  i.  85  ; 
frequency  of  wild  animals  in,  in  former 
times,  i.  103  ;  a  land  of  mountain  streams, 

i.  125;  smallness  of  population  of,  i.  141  ; 
size  of,  i.  351,  352;  special  suitability  of, 
for  reception  or  Divine  revelation,  i.  352, 
353  ;  great  variety  in  physical  configura¬ 
tion  of,  i.  353 ;  contradictions  in  land¬ 
scapes  in,  i.  364;  climate  of,  ii.  57,  110; 
volcanic  action  in,  ii.  Ill,  316  ;  clear 
air  in,  ii.  220;  antiquity  of  history  of,  ii. 
320  ;  ancestry  of  peasants  of,  ii.  375  ;  lan¬ 
guage  of  peasants  of,  ii.  376  ;  Oriental  idea 
of  fertility  of,  ii.  563  ;  future  of,  ii.  504 

Palm,  the,  a  symbol  of  rejoicing,  i.  207 ;  on 
coins  as  emblem  of  Palestine,  i.  207 ;  on 
Mount  Ephraim,  i.  207  ;  giving  name  to 
villages,  i.  207  ;  symbol  of  victory  over 
death,  i.  203  ;  borne  by  pilgrims,  i.  208 ; 
used  in  sacred  imagery,  i.  208  ;  redeemed 
pictured  carrying,  i.  208 ;  emblem  of  Chris¬ 
tian  life,  ii.  286 
Palma  Christi,  ii.  82 
Palms,  Jericho  ca  led  City  of,  i.  207 
Palm-tree,  i.  51,  56,  70,  2<'5;  ii.  75,  76,  286; 
date,  i.  128;  date,  characteristic  of  Egyp¬ 
tian  landscape,  i.  138 ;  fibre  for  sieve,  i.  150 ; 
orchards,  i.  159  ;  wine,  i.  206 
Pan,  sanctuary  of,  ii.  394 

Papyrus,  Egyptian,  i.  36  ;  Syrian,  i.  68  ;  marsh, 

ii.  385  ;  description  of  the,  ii.  344 
Parable  of  the  lost  piece  of  silver,  ii.  192 ;  of 

the  sower,  ii.  335 

Paralytic  healed  by  Peter,  i.  32  ;  let  through 
roof,  i.  433 

Parapets,  i.  19  ;  antiquity  of,  i.  20  ;  of  earthen¬ 
ware  pipes,  i.  20 

Passover  week,  harvest  began  in,  i.  146  ;  mul¬ 
titudes  assembling  for  the,  i.  538  ;  keep¬ 
ing  of  the,  by  Samaritans,  ii.  217 
Pastors,  native,  ii.  464 

Pasturage,  selection  of,  by  Arabs,  i.  212;  ii. 
268 

Pasture-land,  i.  35,  39,  135,  221 
Paths,  rocky,  ii.  183;  from  Khan  Minieh,  ii. 
337,  352 

Patriarchal  life  illustrated  by  Arab  customs, 

i.  136,  283 

Patriarch®,  tombs  of,  at  Hebron,  i.  335 — 339; 

localities  chosen  by,  i.  354 
Paul,  St.,  conversion  of,  i.  32;  a  prisoner  at 
Caesarea,  i.  32 ;  travelling  to  Caesarea,  i.  39  ; 
route  of,  from  Antipatris  to  Caesarea,  i. 
60 ;  trade  of,  i.  172 ;  viper  fastening  on,  i. 
247  ;  iu  court  of  Gentiles, i.  514  ;  at  Sidon, 

ii.  478 

Pear,  prickly,  i.  25,  158;  hedges  of,  i.  127 
Peasauts,  wedding-party  of,  i.  102  ;  Maliom- 
medan,  plougning,  i.  112;  sleeping  on  mats, 
i.  116  ;  gathering  mountain  crops,  i.  145  ; 
toiliug  from  sunrise  to  sunset,  i.  156 ; 
dress  of,  at  Deir  Sineid,  i.  156 ;  riding 
asses,  i.  158;  gardening,  i.  192;  d’s'ike  of, 
f"r  Bedouins,  i.  282;  domestic  life  of,  ii. 
193  ;  ignorance  of,  ii.  378;  food  of,  ii.  379  ; 
trave  ling,  ii.  382  ;  industry  of,  ii.  400 
Pelusiuin,  port  of,  i.  22 

Pen,  words  for,  in  Bible,  i.  488,  4S9 ;  descrip¬ 
tion  of,  i.  494 

Pentateuch,  ancient  copy  of,  ii.  222 
Pmtecost,  harvest  ended  at,  i.  146 
People,  primitive,  remains  of,  i.  261 


Perrizites,  meaning  of,  i.  86 
Persecution,  Lebanon,  ii.  456 
Persia,  chickens  brought  from,  i.  161 
Persian,  sway  of  the,  i.  85  ;  “  wheels  ”  for  rais¬ 
ing  water,  i.  137 
“  Pesilim  ’’  at  Gilgal,  ii.  95 
Peter,  St.,  visit  to  Joppa,  i.  18,  32  ;  vision  of, 
i.  19  ;  at  Lydda,  i.  32 ;  sent  for  by  centu¬ 
rion,  i.  59 

Phai-aoh,  the,  i.  36  ;  daughter  of,  married  to 
Solomon,  i.  98 ;  Necho  besi-  ges  Gaza,  i. 
185  ;  serpent  on  diadem  of,  i.  243 
Pharisees,  spiritual  slavery  enforced  by,  i.  18; 

denounced  by  Christ,  i.  99;  ii.  2 
Phnrpar,  liver,  ii.  427 
Phasaelus,  tower  of,  i.  464 
Philip  the  Evangelist,  St.,  i.  60;  baptizes  the 
eunuch,  i.  374  ;  legend  concerning,  ii.  135 
Philistia  corrupted  to  “  Palestine,”  i.  83 
Philistine,  meaning  of  name,  i.  83  ;  plain,  i. 
83,  98,  121;  suL-worship,  i.  103;  procession 
to  meet  victors  who  had  captured  Ark,  i. 
131  ;  plain,  harvest  begins  in  April  on, 
i.  146 

Philistines  once  occupied  lowlands,  &c.,  i.  28; 
take  possession  of  country,  i.  83  ;  of  dif¬ 
ferent  race  to  earlier  people  of  Canaan,  i. 
83 ;  a  warlike  race,  i.  84 ;  seldom  mentioned 
aft<-r  loss  of  cities,  i.  84 ;  great  strength 
of  the,  i.  84;  seldom  independent  of  He¬ 
brews,  i.  85  ;  division  of  territory  of  the,  i. 
85  ;  of  Semitic  race,  i.  85 ;  Greek  influence 
upon,  i.  85  ;  vanish  as  people,  i.  85  ;  most 
dreaded  enemy  of  Israel,  i.  85  ;  rivals  of 
Phoenicians,  i.  85  ;  religion  of,  i.  85  ;  poli¬ 
tical  constitution  of  the,  i.  85 ;  Greek 
word  for,  i.  83,  note  ;  kept  possesion  of 
Jabneel,  i.  90 ;  plagues  inflicted  on  the,  i. 
94;  watclnd  fivm  Zorah,  i.  98;  dominion 
of  the,  over  Israel,  i.  100 ;  fighting 
against  Saul,  i.  105 :  Keilah  rescued 
from  the,  i.  109  ;  country  open  to  the,  i. 
1U9  ;  hold  Tll-es-Safieb,  i.  113  ;  David  de¬ 
termines  to  break  pow  r  of,  i.  120  ;  having 
captured  Ark,  feared  Israel  no  longer,  i. 
130  ;  thought  by  capture  of  Ark  Hebrews 
were  deprived  of  protection,  i.  131  ;  send 
images  to  propitiate  Jehovah,  i.  132; 
destroy  Tabernacle  at  Shiloh,  i.  133  ;  fear 
of  the,  lest  Hebr  ws  should  mate  swords 
or  sp  ars,  i.  160  ;  conquered  by  Alexander, 

i.  197  ;  sway  of  the,  i.  239 
Phinehas,  tomb  of,  ii.  207 

Phoenicia,  wood  imported  from,  i.  50 ;  imports 
oil  from  Palestine,  i.  139 
Phoenician  fleet,  i.  4;  mechanics,  i.  524 
Phoenicians  bringing  wood  for  Solomon’s 
Temple,  i.  21 ;  bringing  wood  for  second 
Temple,  i.  21  ;  help  given  be,  in  hewing 
wood,  i.  51;  owners  of  Joppa,  i.  83; 
rivalled  by  Philistines,  i.  85;  called 
Cmaanites,  i.  86 ;  immigrants  from  Persian 
Gulf,  i.  129 

Pho  Tgrapliy,  anecdote  of,  i.  281 
Phylacteries,  ii.  366,  481 
Physical  divisions  of  country,  i.  30 
Pier  at  Caesarea,  i.  62 
Pigeon-nests,  boxes  for,  i.  20 
Pigeons  foim  part  of  sacrifice,  i.  46;  usual  in 
all  houses,  i.  46  ;  numerous  in  clefts  of 
rocks,  i.  118  ;  towers  for,  i.  151 ;  dung  of, 
used  for  manure,  i.  151 ;  in  W  auy  Hamain, 

ii.  329 

Pilate,  Pontius,  i.  30  ;  repairs  aqueduct,  i.  545  ; 

water  system  contrived  by,  ii.  37 
Pilate’s  Hall,  she  of,  i.  499,  500 
Pilgrimage,  symbolic,  of  E/.ekiel,  i.  54;  to 
Juttah,  i.  316;  to  Jordan,  ii.  91 — 93; 
to  Convent  of  Holy  Cross,  ii.  134  ;  Mahom- 
medau,  ii.  410 


INDEX. 


527 


Pi'grims,  source  of  profit  to  Joppa,  i.  18; 
Christian,  to  Jemsalem,  i.  13  ;  to  Mecca, 

i.  155;  carry  palms,  i.  203;  Eussian,  i. 
376,  405  ;  to  Jerusalem,  i.  453  ;  Armenian, 

ii.  213  ;  caravans  of,  ii.  344 
Pillars  of  salt,  ii.  121 
Pillow,  stones  used  for,  i.  276 
Pine-woods,  ii.  415 

Pipe,  paying  for  use  of,  i.  17 
Pir  ites.  i.  23 

Pistachio,  resin  of  the,  i.  139,  note  ;  exported, 
i.  139  ;  leaves  and  berries  of  the,  used  for 
medicine,  i.  139,  note 

Pitcher,  unglazed,  i.  133;  “broken  at  the 
fountain,”  i.  189 
Pits  for  wild  animals,  i.  103 
Plain,  treeless,  i.  33;  of  Sharon,  i.  42;  rf 
Sharon  changes  in  character  at  Zeita,  i. 
57  ;  narrow,  at  Carmel,  i.  61  ;  Philistine, 
i.  98;  fertile,  i.  118;  at  Ashdod,  i.  131; 
maritime,  David’s  woods  in,  i.  135 ;  near 
Dead  Sea,  ii.  116 ;  rich,  at  Beisan,  ii.  255 
Plane-trees,  i.  26 

Plants,  lily-like,  abundance  of,  i.  143 
Platform  of  earth  at  Gez-  r,  i.  97 
Plethi  and  Crethi  i.  85,  524 
Pliny,  natural  history  of,  i.  22 
Plough,  extreme  lightness  of,  i.  41  ;  descrip¬ 
tion  of,  i.  42  ;  handles,  factory  for,  i.  81  ; 
drawn  by  horses,  i.  8L  ;  carried  on  shoul¬ 
ders,  i.  117 ;  ii.  141 ;  drawn  by  ox  or 
camel,  i.  136 

Ploughed  land,  i.  142,  144 
Ploughing,  i.  41,  239,  310,  560;  ii.  491;  ani¬ 
mals  used  in,  i.  311  ;  in  winter,  ii.  492 
Ploughs  numerous  near  Ashdod,  i.  136 
Poison-fang^,  beating  out  of  serpents’,  i.  245 
Politeness  of  villagers  at  Ashdod,  i.  133  ;  in 
bargaining,  i.  339 — 341 
Polygamy,  i.  182  ;  ii.  284,  285 
Point  guana; tes,  i.  33,  145 

Pompey  adds  Joppa  to  Eomnn  province  of 
Syria,  i.  23  ;  Jai-neel  repopulated  by,  i.  90 
Pond,  rain,  at  El-Jehudiyeh,  i.  51  ;  at  Esdud, 
i.  128  ;  at  Burberah,  i.  154  ;  at  Gaza,  i.  158  ; 
village,  i.  293  j 

Pools,  i.  25,  28,  35  ;  stagnant,  i.  77,  89 ;  Hebron, 
i.  332 — 343  ;  of  Gibon,  i.  456  ;  of  Hezekiah, 

i.  470 ;  of  Siloam,  ii.  31,  32 ;  of  Moses,  ii. 
71 ;  of  Giheon,  ii.  169 

Poor  always  numerous,  i.  278 ;  food  of,  at 
Hebron,  i.  365 

Population  limited,  i.  118,  141 ;  once  vast  in 
Palestine,  i.  100,  236,  237,  263,  307  ;  ii.  139, 
147,  165  ;  none  between  villages,  i.  155 ; 
fo'iner  round  Juttali,  i.  346  ;  west  of 
Jordan,  ii.  325  ;  former,  near  Damascus, 

ii.  414 

Porsena,  i.  160 

Porters,  weights  carried  by,  i.  17 ;  dress  of, 
i.  18  ;  mode  of  arranging  burden,  i.  18 
Ports,  need  of,  in  north,  i.  61 
Postures  of  devotion,  i.  205 
Potters  in  ancient  Jerusalem,  i.  238 
Potter’s  Gate,  ii.  48 ;  art,  Scripture  illustra¬ 
tions  from,  ii.  49 — 51  ;  Field,  i.  238,  548 
Pottery,  painted,  i.  14  ;  broken,  tells  of  former 
village,  i.  71;  made  at  Gaza,  i.  169;  an¬ 
ciently  glazed,  i.  171 ;  vast  quantities  of 
b-oken,  i.  188;  ii.  51;  extreme  brittleness 
of,  i.  189  ;  ii.  250  ;  qualities  of,  at  Gerar, 
i.  237  ;  dashed  down,  symbol  of  anger,  ii.  52 
Poultry,  quantities  for  sale,  i.  14;  numerous, 
i.  i60  ;  not  mentioned  in  Old  Testament, 
i.  161 

Poverty,  vast  amount  of,  in  Eastern  cities, 
i.  21 

Power  removed  from  J<  wish  Eahhis,  i.  91 
Praetorium,  Christ  tried  in  the,  i.  521 
Prayer,  in  mosque,  i.  19  ;  muezzin  calling  to, 


i.  5,  203  ;  men  offer,  i.  113 ;  among  He¬ 
brews,  i.  203  ;  Mahommeclaus  turning 
during,  towards  Mec<  a,  i.  204  ;  carpet,  i. 
205;  hour  of,  in  East,  i.  205,  271  ;  ii.  176  ; 
form  of,  ii.  30  ;  Maliommedan,  ii.  406,  4()7  ; 
ceremonies  connected  with,  ii.  407  ;  for 
harvest,  ii.  480 

Precious  stones,  i.  170 
Press,  ancient  stone,  i.  93  ’ 

Presses  for  extracting  oil,  i.  141 
Prick,  kicking  against  the,  ii.  3S3 
Prickly  pear,  lodges  of,  i.  93,  127,  133,  145,  528 
Priests  thronging  Levitidd  city,  i.  98 ;  dress 
of,  i.  288  ;  high,  S  unaril  an,  ii.  223 
Printing-press,  American,  ii.  225 
Prison,  St.  Paul  in,  at  Caesarea,  i.  60 
Prisoners,  2,000  Jewish,  tilled  in  arena,  i.  63  ; 
of  war  condemned  to  he  ri  den  over  by 
threshing-waggon,  i.  149  ;  chained,  i.  168 ; 
reduced  to  slavery,  ii.  312  ;  made  to  fplt, 

ii,  457 

Procession  at  Ashdod  to  meet  Ark,  i.  131 ; 
Crusaders  imitating  Christ's,  to  Jeru¬ 
salem,  i.  508 

Proclamation  by  governor  to  pick  olives,  i. 
140 

Prodigal  son  eats  pods  of  locust  bean,  i.  77 
Produce  of  farm  consumed  by  field  mice,  i.  94 
Promontory  at  Atlilit,  i.  70 
Prophets,  false,  denounced  by  Ezekiel,  i.  312; 

schools  of  the,  ii.  188 
Proserpina,  temple  to,  i.  163 
Prosperity,  evidences  of  former,  i.  68  ;  staples 
of  national,  i.  138 

Pruning  not  used  on  ohve-trees,  i.  142 
Psammetichus  besieges  Ashdod,  i.  130 
Ptolen  ais,  i.  60;  Acre  called,  ii.  297 
Purification,  ii.  56 
Purveyors  of  milk,  bread,  Sc.,  i.  17 
Pyramids  in  honour  of  Maccabaean  family,  i. 
44  ;  fragments  of,  at  Medieh,  i.  44,  45 

Quarantania,  hills  of,  ii.  157 

Quarantine  watcher,  i.  184 ;  station,  i.  185 

Quarries,  slaves  in,  i.  107, 532,  533  ;  vast,  ii.  18  ; 

workmen  in,  ii.  18  ;  at  Baal  ben,  ii.  445 
“Quarters,”  various,  in  Damascus,  ii.  428 
Quartz,  i.  30 

Quay  at  Joppa,  i.  3,  18,  61 
Qaicksands,  dangerous,  i.  71 

Eabbab,  David  takes,  i.  149 
Eabhi  Akiba,  i.  91  ;  ii.  137 
Babbinical  Col'ege  removed  from  Jerusalem, 
i.  91  ;  school,  at  Sifed,  ii.  364 
Eahhis,  rules  of,  concerning  scapegoat,  ii.  131 
Baces,  numerous,  in  Damascus,  ii.  424 
Bachel,  tomb  of,  i.  406,  420,  436,  437 
Eadish' s,  i.  17 

Eafts  of  cedar  for  Temple,  i.  21 
Eain  filtering  through  porous  strata  of  hills, 
i.  7 ;  spout,  i.  20 ;  pond,  i.  29,  56,  90,  137  ; 
winter,  i.  42 ;  dropping  throng- 1  roof, 
compared  to  br  iwling  woman,  i.  53  ;  none 
from  May  to  October,  i.  72  ;  misty  through 
night,  i.  73  ;  Manias,  god  of,  i.  163  ;  neces¬ 
sity  of,  i.  273;  ii.  503  ;  Hebrew  words  for, 

i.  273  ;  in  harvest,  i.  422  ;  frequent  mention 
of,  ii.  57  ;  three  kinds  of,  ii.  68 ;  uncertainty 
of  time  of,  ii.  59 ;  desolation  caused  by 
absence  of,  ii.  303 ;  storm  of,  at  Tiberias, 

ii.  313,  315 

Eainbow,  lunar,  i.  73 
Bainfall,  ii.  57,  58 
Eaisins,  i.  321 

Eamah,  ruins  near  site  of,  ii.  171 
Bamathaim,  i.  30  ;  note 
Bameses  II.,  tablet  of,  ii.  468 — 470 
Bamleb,  water  supply  of,  i.  33 ;  formerly  a 
much  larger  place,  i.  33  ;  situation  of,  L 


528 


INDEX. 


33  ;  on  caravan-route,  i.  38;  modern  road 
to  Jerusalem  through,  i.  39,  89  ;  ii.  147  ; 
tower  of,  i.  118 

Rantieh,  village  of,  i.  29 ;  home  of  Joseph  of 
Arim  itbeea,  i.  30 
Ranunculus,  i.  33 

Rapid  ity  of  tilling  and  preparing  for  table,  i. 
284 

Ras-el-Ain,  sdte  of  Antipatris,  i.  54,  80 
Ravens,  i.  42 
Ravine,  i.  47,  105,  112 

Reaper  gathers  grain  in  left  arm,  i.  145  ;  poor 
meals  of  the,  i.  145 

Reaping  at  different  times  on  different  levels, 

i.  146 

Rebetah  speaks  of  “  teben,”  i.  83  ;  character 
of,  i.  441 

Rebellion  under  Barcochba,  i.  92 
Recruits  ^ent  to  distant  countries,  i.  304 
Reeds,  i.  33,  35,  65,  77,  i  0  ;  “  shaken  in  wind,” 

ii.  344;  at  Merom,  ii.  380 
Reefs  at  Joppa,  i.  2 
Refuge,  cities  of,  i.  167 

Refuse  brought  in  baskets  to  village  dust- 
heap,  i.  lr6 

Register,  ancient,  in  Gaza,  i.  163 
Rehoboam  humble  t,  i.  18  >  ;  fortifies  Bethsur, 
i.  373,  432  ;  fortifies  Tekoa,  i.  399 
Religion  of  Philistines,  i.  85 
Religious  tract  Society,  Arabic  publications 
of,  ii.  461 

Rephaim,  valley  of,  i.  4^5,  456 
Reptile^  found  in  wilderness,  i.  390 
Reservoir,  i.  349  ;  at  Sepphoris,  ii.  304 
Resin  of  pistachio-tree  exported,  i.  139 
Respect,  self-,  of  Orientals,  i.  229 
Revenge  limited  by  Mosaic  law,  i.  168  ;  Arab, 
i.  216 

Rheumatism  prevalent  among  Arabs,  ii.  360 
Riblah,  events  in  history  of,  ii.  448 
Rice  crops,  ii.  38L 
Richard  the  Lion-hearted,  i.  121 
Riddles  at  ma  riage-f *  a-ts,  i.  101 
Ride  irom  Caesarea  to  Carmel,  i.  68 
Riding,  Orientals  expert  at,  i.  155 
Ring  finger,  i.  14;  of  office,  i.  491 ;  signet,  i. 
494 

River,  subterranean,  i.  346 
Rivers  of  Damascus,  ii.  4 '6,  427 
Rizpah,  story  of,  ii.  164,  168 
Road,  modern,  through  Kami  eh  to  Jerusalem, 
i.  39;  ancient,  through  Lydda,  i.  39 ;  Ro¬ 
man,  i.  39,  51 ;  preparing  in  antiquity  for 
passage  of  great  men,  i.  56  ;  “  prepared,” 
in  Koordistan  for  passage  of  English 
Consul,  i.  56;  lately  “prepared”  for  pas¬ 
sage  of  Russian  Duke,  i.  56;  unsafe  be¬ 
cause  of  Arabs,  i.  58 ;  ancient,  i.  324 ; 
Hebron  to  Jerusalem,  i.  368;  mending,  i. 
455  ;  good,  reason  for,  ii.  29  ;  good,  at  Da¬ 
mascus,  ii.  418 

Roads  said  to  have  been  made  by  Solomon,  i. 
36,  37 ;  unfit  for  wheels  even  yet,  i.  36  ; 
intercommunication  difficult  because  of 
badness  of,  i.  37  ;  badness  of,  in  antiquity, 
i.  37 ;  basalt,  spoken  of  by  Josephus,  i. 
37 ;  Roman,  object  in  building,  i.  105 ; 
Roman,  frequency  of,  i.  105 
Robbers,  i.  220 
Robes,  flowing,  i.  17 

Rock  cisterns,  i.  27  ;  hollowed  out  for  water, 
i.  29  ;  Mnccabsean  tombs  hewn  in  the,  i.  44  ; 
ledge  of,  chosen  by  Herod  for  site  of 
Caesarea,  i.  61;  tombs  in,  near  Tantureh, 

i.  71 ;  inscription  cut  in  the,  i.  97  ;  levelled 
in  Temple  space,  i.  5C2 ;  platform,  at  Erma, 

ii.  145 

Rocks  in  harbour  of  Joppa,  i.  3;  found  in 
undergrowth,  i.  50;  honey  stored  in,  i. 
50 ;  range  of,  i.  68 


Rodents,  various  species  of,  ii.  91 
‘‘Rolling  stone”  at  tomb,  ii.  2J,  21 
Roman  tteet,  i.  4 ;  road  to  Lydda  traversed  by 
Sr.  Paul,  i.  32 ;  present  condition  of,  at 
Tibneh,  i.  55  ;  remains  of.  i.  309  ;  ii.  178, 
179,  191,  196,  244,  300,  303,  467 
Romans,  the,  Joppa  under,  i.  24;  Jews  rising 
against,  i.  91 ;  forbidden  to  work  in  iron, 
i.  160  ;  praying  towards  East,  i.  2:01 ;  at 
Carmel,  i.  349 

Rome,  St.  Paul  goes  to,  i.  60 ;  bringing  all 
countries  into  closer  relationship,  i.  61; 
statue  of,  deified  as  Juno,  i.  62  ;  bondage 
of,  i.  92  ;  Jews  wanted  Christ  to  lead 
rising  against,  i.  93 ;  memorial  images 
hung  in  temples  of,  to  commemorate 
cures,  &c.,  i.  133 

Roof,  flat,  i.  19,  158  ;  sleeping  on.  i.  29  ;  grass 
growing  on,  i.  42,  155  ;  rain-soaked,  h  s 
given  rise  to  many  proverbs,  i.  53 ;  groined, 
i.  69 ;  made  of  branches,  i.  70,  1'  3 ;  of 
cave  blackened  by  smoke,  i.  108  ;  flat, 
crowded  by  guests,  i.  165 
Roofs,  rounded  mud,  i.  155 ;  flat,  alluded  to 
by  Christ,  i.  432,  434 

Roots  of  trees  found  of  large  size,  i.  50  ;  dug 
by  charcoal  burners,  i.  65 ;  gnawed  by  field 
mice,  i.  94 

Rope,  camels’ -hair,  i.  5,  13,  87  ;  of  mj  rtle- 
twigs,  i.  7 ;  of  palm-fibie,  i.  7 ;  sole  stock- 
in-trade  of  porter,  i.  18 
Ropes  for  water-wheels,  i.  135 
Rose  not  mentioned  till  time  of  Apocryphal 
books,  i.  40 ;  imported  from  Persia,  i.  40  ; 
of  Sharon,  various  flowers  thought  to  be 
identical  with,  i.  40 ;  used  in  Syriac  ver¬ 
sion  for  a  poisonous  bulb,  i.  41 ;  Scripture 
word  for,  used  by  peasantry  for  narcissus, 
i.  41 ;  Hebrew  roots  for,  i.  41 
Roses  on  heights  of  Hermon,  i.  41 ;  abundance 
of,  i.  491 ;  gardens  of,  ii.  134 
Rowers,  strange  dress  of,  i.  2 
Rubin,  river,  i.  89,  98 ;  ravine  cut  by,  i.'90 ; 
fordable  in  May,  i.  90 

Ruins,  frequency  of,  i.  29,  35.  70;  ii.  137 ;  of 
fine  buildings  at  Lydda,  i.  32  ;  in  Ramleh, 
i.  33;  of  towns  and  vi  lages  a  ong  Roman 
road,  i.  51 ;  at  Ras-el-Ain,  i.  54 ;  on  hills 
near  Gilgal,  i.  57  ;  of  Caesarea,  i.  64  ;  round 
Zorah,  i.  ICO;  ancient  and  modern,  of 
Bethsliemesh,  i.  103;  stones  of,  carried  off 
for  building  purposes,  i.  118 ;  haunt  of 
mole-rat,  i.  144 ;  near  Beersheba,  i.  260  ; 
massive,  near  Beit  Jibrin,  i.  298,  299;  at 
Samaria,  ii.  239;  of  ancient  Bethshan,  ii. 
255  ;  on  Mount  Tabor,  ii.  279  ;  at  El-Mah- 
rakab,  ii.  287 ;  of  Gadara,  ii.  351 ;  of  ancient 
fortress,  ii.  391 ;  at  Baalbek,  ii.  440 
Rushes,  i.  55,  68,  77,90 
Russia,  ho>  ses  treading  out  grain  in,  i.  147 
Ruth,  i.  147,  149 
Ruth  and  Boaz,  i.  425 — 427 

Sab,  name  of  a  lizard,  i.  68 
Sacrifice,  human,  forbidden,  i.  291 ;  Samari¬ 
tans,  on  Gerizim,  ii.  217 
Sacrifices,  sheep  for,  i.  231,  232 
Safed,  an  holy  town,  ii.  318,  364  ;  view  from,  ii. 
363,  366  ;  fertility  round,  ii.  363  ;  Rabbini¬ 
cal  school  at,  ii.  364;  castle  at,  ii.  364; 
fanaticism  of  Jews  at,  ii.  365  ;  marriage 
laws  at,  ii.  365;  climate  cf,  ii.  366;  capture 
of,  ii.  366 
Saffron,  i.  33 
Sage,  wild,  i.  112 
Sailors’  Homes  at  Ca3sarea,  i.  61 
Saint,  tomb  of  a  Mussulman,  i.  99 
Saint  Ann,  ruin  of  Church  of,  i.  303;  view 
from  Church  of,  i.  307  ;  Church  of,  i.  501 
Saint  Chariton,  hermit,  i.  395 


INDEX. 


529 


Saint  George,  earliness  of  fame  of,  i.  31 ;  un¬ 
doubtedly  a  real  personage,  i.  31  ;  held  in 
honour  by  both  Eastern  and  Western 
Churches,  i.  31;  Church  of,  at  Lydda,  i. 
33,  35 

Saint  Janies,  Chapel  of,  at  Lydda,  used  as 
mosque,  i.  32 

Saint  John,  Hospital  of,  i.  486  ;  churches  of, 
i.  486;  ii.  233  ;  monastery,  ruins  of,  ii.  69 
Saint  Paul  alludes  to  graftL  g  of  olive-trees, 

i.  139 ;  refers  to  barrel  ness  of  Jewish 
Churcb,  i.  140;  trade  of,  i.  172 

Saint  Peter,  visit  to  J^p^a,  i.  18  ;  acknow¬ 
ledges  Christ  to  he  God,  ii.  397 
Saint  Saba,  grave  of,  ii.  125  ;  c  ive  of,  ii.  126 
Saint  Stephen’s  Cate,  i.  7 ;  ii.  15;  martyrdom, 
place  of,  ii.  22 

Saints,  Christian,  as  local  divinities,  ii.  377 
Sakiyehs  for  raising  water,  i.  137  ;  ii.  476 
Saladin  destroys  Ascalon,  i.  198 ;  defeats 
Crusaders,  ii.  311 ;  tomb  of,  ii.  435 
Salahiyeh,  suburb  of  Damascus,  ii.  4.4 
Sale  carried  on  in  open  air,  i.  14 
Salem,  springs,  ii.  229 ;  village  of,  ii.  229 
Salesman,  street,  i.  5 

Salome  inherits  Jamnia,  i.  90  ;  Ashdod  given 
to,  i.  130 ;  marries  Herod  Philip,  ii.  340 
Salt  exported  fiom  Cassiotis,  i.  84;  traffic  in, 

ii.  117 ;  round  Dead  Sea,  ii.  121 ;  at  bap¬ 
tismal  service,  ii.  154 

Salutations,  Arab,  i.  327,  328 
Samaria,  mountains  of,  i.  34 ;  beautified 
by  Herod,  i.  61  ;  storm  at,  i.  123  ; 
numbers  of  cedars  at,  i.  135 ;  wide  view 
over,  ii.  205  ;  Well  of,  ii.  209—212;  woman 
of,  ii.  210,  211 ;  Christ  at  Well  of,  ii.  211 ; 
view  from  Well  of,  ii.  212  ;  colonised,  ii. 

223  ;  beauty  of  neighbourhood  of,  ii.  232 ; 
situation  of,  ii.  232,  236;  orchards  near,  ii. 
232,  235;  modern  village  of,  ii.  234;  de¬ 
pravity  of,  ii.  237  ;  various  sieges  of,  ii. 
237  ;  under  Herod,  ii.  238 ;  destroyed  by 
Hyrcanus,  ii.  238  ;  downfall  of,  predicted, 
ii.  238  ;  Herod’s  temple  at,  ii.  238 ;  peasants 
of,  ii.  239  ;  ruins  at,  ii.  239  ;  prophecy  con¬ 
cerning,  ii.  239 

Samaritan,  “Good,”  i.  168 
Samaritans,  i.  29  ;  worship  on  Gerizim,  ii.  217; 
desire  for  teachers,  ii.  223;  scribes,  ii. 

224  ;  worship  of,  ii.  225 ;  remnant  of,  ii. 
222,  225;  reverence  for  site  of  Temple,  ii. 
226  ;  number  of,  ii.  227 

Samson  brings  natiou  into  prominence,  i.  85 ; 
region  of  exploits  of,  i.  93  ;  country  of,  i. 
98 ;  youth  of,  i.  99 ;  Bible  description  of 
marriage  of,  i.  100 ;  a  local  hero,  or 
“judge,”  i.  102;  reveuge  of,  on  losing  his 
wife,  i.  102  ;  made  to  amuse  Philistines,  i. 
164 ;  traditional  tomb  of,  i.  169,  268 ; 
carries  off  city  gate,  i.  169 ;  grinding  at 
mill,  i.  173 

Samuel,  the  Prophet,  birth-place  of,  i.  30 ;  sup¬ 
posed  tomb  of,  ii.  165 
Sanballat.,  temple  of,  ii.  219 
Sanctuary,  i.  168  ;  “  of  God,”  ii.  209 
Sand,  harbour  at  Joppa  closed  by,  i.  3  ;  road 
of  deep,  at  Joppa,  i.  6  ;  difficulty  of  culti¬ 
vation  when  deep  on  land,  i.  33 ;  country 
round  Caesarea  overwhelmed  by,  i.  59  ; 
havoc  caused  by,  on  Philistine  plain,  i. 
89;  hills,  i.  97,  135;  dunes  encroaching 
yearly  on  land,  i.  127,  145,  194;  difficulty 
of  finding  way  in,  i.  202,  203 
Sandals,  i.  17,  289  ;  ii.  360 
Sandal-wood,  i.  50 
Sandstone,  brown,  i.  64 
Sanhedrim,  ii.  305 
Sanik,  the  river,  ii.  489,  490 
Sanur,  hill  of,  ii.  244 
Saracen,  Joppa  under,  i.  24 

i  i 


Saracenic  bridge,  i.  39 

Sarafend,  village  of,  i.  70  ;  famous  for  figs,  i.  70 
Sarah,  mourning  for,  i.  339 
Sarcophagi,  ii.  350 

Sarcophagus,  ancient,  i.  128 ;  of  Esmunazar, 
ii.  485 ;  curious  coincidence  connected 
with,  ii.  489 

Sarepta,  ii.  491  ;  seat  of  bishop,  ii.  492  ; 
Christian  church  at,  ii.  492;  ruins  of,  ii. 
492  ;  wine  of,  ii.  492 ;  ride  from,  to  Tyre, 
ii.  493 

Sargon,  of  Assyria,  takes  Ashdod,  i.  129  ;  re¬ 
peoples  Ashdod  with  Eastern  pi  isoners 
of  war,  i.  129 ;  plunders  Dan,  ii.  390 ; 
carries  ten  tribes  to  Assyria,  ii.  390 
Sarona,  German  village  of,  i.  80 
Sartaheb,  hill  of,  ii.  99 

Saul,  army  of,  i.  105 ;  route  of,  to  meet 
Philistines,  i.  110  ;  pursues  David,  i.  110  ; 
David  hides  from,  ii.  116  ;  massacre  of 
priests  by,  i.  119;  spear  of,  i.  250;  de¬ 
feat  of,  at  Gilboa,  i.  343  ;  defeats  Amalek- 
ites,  i.  350;  interview  with  David,  i.  359, 
360;  at  Gibeah,  i'.  163;  massacres  the 
Nethinim,  ii.  168  ;  defeated  bv  Philistines, 
ii.  250  ;  body  of,  hung  on  walls,  ii.  256 
Sausage-meat,  i.  17 
Sawich,  Khan  near,  ii.  204 
Scanty  pasture,  i.  144,  259 
“  Scapegoat,”  Holman  Hunt’s  picture  of  the, 
ii.  121 ;  sent  into  wilderness,  ii.  130 
Scarabseus,  ii.  197 

School,  Homan  Catholic,  Haifa,  ii.  295  ;  Mos¬ 
lem,  ii.  305  ;  learning  Koran  in,  ii.  494 
Schools,  Protestant,  i.  439 
Scones,  pieces  of  new-made,  used  for  spoons, 
i.  113 

Scorpion  frequenting  large  caves,  i.  108  ;  ii. 
348,  366  ;  frequent  mention  of,  in  Bible,  ii. 
349 

Screw-press  for  olives,  i.  142 
Scribes  denounced  by  Christ,  i.  99 
Scythia,  diseases  inflicted  on  women  of,  for 
robbing  temple  of  Derketo,  i.  132 
Scjthnpolis,  Roman  name  of  Bethshan,  ii.  256 
Sea,  very  gradual  rise  from,  i.  43  ;  visible  from 
Maccabtean  sepulchre,  i.  44  ;  trade  by,  lost 
t>  Csesarea,  i.  64 ;  wall  at  Athlit,  ruins  of, 

i.  68  ;  coast  assigned  to  Judah,  i.  84;  trade 
from  Canaan,  i.  84  ;  breeze,  i.  150  ;  near 
Acre,  ii.  295 ;  of  Galilee,  ii.  324—327,  331, 
334 

Sea  monster,  description  of,  by  Pliny,  i.  22  ; 

not  unknown  in  Mediterranean,  i.  23 
Seal  of  the  Living  God,  i.  15 
“  Sealing,”  i.  490,  491 
Seasons  in  Palestine,  ii.  65 
Sebaita,  ruins  of,  i.  262 

Sects,  various,  orphanage,  at  Beirout,  ii.  466 
Security  only  in  communities,  i.  118 
Seed  falling  by  the  “  waytdde,”  ii.  301 
Seilun,  or  shiloh,  ii.  190,  197 
Sejiyeh,  a  suburb  of  Gaza,  i.  187 
Semitic  race,  Philistines  of,  i.  85 ;  peoples, 
blood  feud  among,  i.  166 
Semna,  or  Eshtemoa,  i.  351 
Sennacherib,  invasion  by,  i.  76  ;  tablet  of,  ii. 
469 

Sepphoris,  Seffurieli,  ii.  303,  304 ;  view  from, 

ii.  301;  importance  of,  ii.  304  ;  church,  ii. 
304  ;  water-supply,  ii.  304 

Septuagint,  the,  i.  30 

Sermon  on  “  Mount,”  supposed  locality  of,  ii. 
310 

Serpent-charmers,  i.  212—244  ;  in  Egypt,  i. 

245  ;  in  India,  i.  245,  246  ;  danger  to,  l.  215 
Serpents,  i.  219;  numerous,  in  Palestine,  i.  210  ; 
words  for,  in  Bible,  i.  210,  241  ;  ears  of,  i. 
245  ;  fggs,  i.  246  ;  lurking  in  walls,  i.  246, 
313  ;  bite  of,  i.  246  ;  fiery,  various,  i.  248  ; 


530 


INDEX. 


subtilty  of,  i.  248,  249  ;  frequently  u-ed  in 
figurative  sens  •,  i.  219  ;  on  Egyptian 
monuments,  i.  2l9  ;  killing  its  prey  ,  i.  249 
Service  for  wives,  ii.  337 
Sesame,  i.  70 

Sewage,  complete  system  of  underground,  at 
Caesarea,  i.  62 

Shnalabin,  meaning  of,  i.  103 
Shafat,  village  of,  ii.  158,  161 
Shalmaneser  II.,  tablet  of,  ii.  469;  III.  be¬ 
sieges  Tyre,  ii.  500 
Sbamgar  slays  600  Philistines,  i.  84 
Sharks  off  Joppa,  i.  3 

Sharon,  plain  of,  i.  27,  35,  39,  41,80,  9S  ;  marsh 
mallow  abounds  on,  i.  40 ;  silence  on, 
i.  42;  Roman  road  best  route  to,  i.  51; 
scenery  on,  near  Caesarea,  i.  58  ;  raised  to 
prominence  by  Herod,  i.  61  ;  marshy  and 
unsafe  near  Carmel,  i.  65 ;  former  pros¬ 
perity,  i.  76  ;  pastures  of,  desolated  by 
Assyrian  hosts,  i.  76 ;  or  Carmel,  men¬ 
tioned  by  prophet  as  symbolical  of  fer¬ 
tility,  i.  76  ;  pastures  of,  in  hands  of  tribe 
of  Gad,  i.  76  ;  restored,  used  as  image  of 
Messianic  kingdom,  i.  76  ;  pastures  of, 
famous  from  earliest  times,  i.  76  ;  fertility 
and  beauty  contrasted  with  English  ideas 
of,  i.  81 ;  fertility  of,  i.  121 ;  crops  on,  i.  181 
Shaving  head,  a  sign  of  defilement,  i.  20 ;  ii. 
56  ;  for  mourning,  i.  176 ;  heads  of  children, 
i.  181 ;  on  making  vow,  ii.  56 
Shawls,  i.  2,  5,  13 

Sheaves  not  known  in  Palestine,  i.  145 
Shechem,  ii.  187,  208—210,  213  ;  oldest  sanc¬ 
tuary,  ii.  188  ;  Abraham  builds  altar  at,  ii. 
205 ;  covenant,  renewed  at,  ii.  205 ;  valley 
of,  ii.  203,  213,  227  ;  associations  connected 
with  plain  of,  ii.  228 

Sheep,  i.  42;  ii.  6,  381;  ancient  breed  of, 
i.  42  ;  tail  of,  used  as  burnt-offering,  i. 
42;  mulberry  -leaves  used  as  food  for,  i. 
145  ;  flocks  of,  i.  155  ;  skins,  Arabs  dressed 
iu,  i.  165;  lost,  i.  217,  223,  228;  following 
shepherd,  i.  217;  “called  by  name,”  i. 
217 — 222  ;  guided  by  sling,  i.  218  ;  protec¬ 
tion  for,  i.  221 ;  folds  beyond  Jordan,  i. 
222  ;  “He  putteth  forth,”  i.  222  ;  will  not 
fol'ow  strangers,  i.  223;  fold  f  ur,  tower  in, 
i.  226  ;  shelter  sought  by,  i.  227  ;  of  Pales¬ 
tine,  peculiarities  of,  i.  229;  Palestine 
suited  for,  i.  230;  mentioned  as  chief 
wealth,  i.  230;  immense  flocks  of,  in  an¬ 
tiquity,  i.  230  ;  robbery  of,  i.  231 ;  sacri¬ 
fices  of,  i.  232  ;  white,  i.  276 
Sheepskin  cloaks,  i.  93 

Sheikh,  of  the  Terabin  Arabs,  i.  166 ;  men 
assemble  at  house  of,  to  see  strangers,  i. 
113  ;  house  of  a,  i.  113,  291,  296,  306  ;  spear 
of,  i.  249;  dress  of,  i.  250  ;  terror  to  neigh¬ 
bourhood,  i.  295  ;  hereditary  authority  of 
the,  i.  306 

Sheikh  Abreilr,  village,  ii.  290 
Sheikh  Samat  almost  forgotten,  i.  99 
Shekel,  i.  78 

Shell-fish  yielding  dye,  ii.  482 
Slither  offered  to  strangers  by  Franciscans, 
i.  18 

Sheplielah,  i.  30,  33,  39,  216 ;  ii.  141 
Shepherd  folds  flocks  among  ruins  of  Caesarea, 
i.  64.;  head,  under  David,  i.  76;  fidelity  of 
the  Eastern,  i.  218,  219,  225 ;  protection 
for,  i.  221,  225,  226;  bravery  of,  i.  221;  in 
field  at  night,  i.  22]  ;  leading  out  sheep, 
i.  222 ;  playing  with  sheep,  i.  222 ;  of 
Bethlehem,  i.  225,  431  ;  life  of,  in  summer, 
i.  226  ;  responsibility  and  pay  of,  i.  227 ; 
counting  sheep,  i.  127 ;  unfaithful,  re¬ 
ferred  to  by  prophets,  i.  228  ;  poor  calling 
of,  i.  2i8 ;  an  honourable  callii  g  in  Pales¬ 
tine,  i.  229 ;  share  allowed  to,  i.  229 ;  with 


flocks,  ii.  141,  313 ;  hardships  of,  ii.  159  ; 
Druse,  ii  404 

Sherafat,  haml  t  of,  ii.  134 
Shiloh,  destruction  of  Tabernacle  at,  i.  133  ; 
road  to,  ii.  191  ;  ruins  of,  ii.  198,  199  ;  posi¬ 
tion  of,  ii.  200;  destroyed  by  Philistines, 
ii.  200  ;  a  national  sanctuary,  ii.  200 
Shimei,  ii.  68 

“  Shining  Cliff,”  the,  i.  113 
Ships,  Phoenician,  i.  22  ;  models  of,  hung  in 
churches,  l.  132,  133  ;  “of  Tarshish,’’ 
i.  372 

Shishack  humb’es  Rehoboam,  i.  185 
Shitrai,  head  shepherd  to  David,  i.  76 
Shoemakers,  i.  159 

Shoes,  removing  of,  extended  to  private 
houses,  i.  162  ;  ii.  422  ;  a  usual  custom,  i. 
271 ;  on  holy  ground,  i.  475 
Shops,  miserable,  Gaza,  i.  164;  windowless, 

i.  169  ;  at  Hebron,  i.  327,  328  ;  primitive,  i. 
410 ;  extreme  poverty  of,  i.  492 ;  atBeirout, 

ii.  4^8 

Shout  of  bridegroom  mentioned  by  Christ, 

i.  440 

Shows,  public,  in  honour  of  Csesar,  i.  60 
Shrine,  Mahommedan,  atMedieh,  i.  44  ;  trans¬ 
lated ‘place,”  ii.  186;  of  a  Mahommedan 
saint,  ii.  268 

Shtora,  situation  of,  ii.  438  ;  former  cultiva¬ 
tion  round,  ii.  438;  dre^s  of  peasants  at, 

ii.  439 

Shukba,  village,  i.  43 
Shunem,  or  Solam,  ii.  251 
Sliunammite  boy,  ii.  286 

Shusan,  name  used  for  any  bright  flower,  i.  40 
Shutters  for  windows,  i.  20 
Shutting  gates  of  Jei  usalem  ii.  30 
Shuweikeh,  ancient  shochoh,  ruins  of,  i.  107 
Sick  asking  help,  ii.  379 
Sickle,  reaping,  i.  145 

Sidon,  port  destroyed  by  sand,  i.  22 ;  ap¬ 
proach  to,  ii.  475  ;  fruit  at,  ii.  475  ;  situa¬ 
tion  of,  ii.  476 ;  greatness  of,  ii.  478 ;  under 
Christians,  ii.  478  ;  under  Mahommedans, 
ii.  478;  taken  by  Philistines,  ii.  478; 
manufactures,  ii.  478;  Jesuit  school  at,  ii. 
479  ;  citadel  of,  view  from,  ii.  479 ;  houses 
at,  ii.  479;  streets  of,  ii.  479;  Franciscan 
monastery,  ii.  479 ;  Roman  Catholic  or¬ 
phanage  at,  ii.  479;  antiquity  of,  ii.  479; 
population  of,  ii.  479 ;  American  Mission 
at,  ii.  479  ;  tombs  at,  ii.  482,  483,  485,  490 ; 
famous  dye  woiks  of,  ii.  482  ;  gardens  of, 
ii.  489  ;  water-supply  of,  ii.  490 
Sieve  for  winnowing,  i.  150 
Silk  indus  ry  at  Lebanon,  ii.  456  ;  at  Tyre  and 
Be;rout,  ii.  457 

Silkworm,  cultivation  of,  at  Beirout,  ii.  457 
466 

Siloam,  Pool  of,  i.  549,  554  ;  church  at,  i.  550, 
553;  water-carriers  at,  i.  557;  or  Silwan, 
village  of,  i.  559  ;  ii.  31 
Silseleh  gate.  i.  502 
Silver,  the  lost  piece  of,  ii.  274 
Simeonites,  country  of,  i.  266 
Simon  the  tanner,  house  of,  i.  19,  20 
Simon  Mnccal  asus,  i.  23;  raised  tombs  over 
his  brothers  and  parents,  i.  44 ;  retakes 
Bethsur,  i.  374 

“Simon  the  Just,”  tomb,  ii.  20,  55;  great 
veneration  for,  ii.  55;  Jews  visiting  tomb 
of,  ii.  56 

Simsim,  village  of,  i.  272 

Sinai,  peninsula,  i.  66  ;  storms  in  mountains 
of,  i.  123;  palms  once  abundant  at,  i.  206 
Singing,  Oriental  style  of,  ii.  141 
Sinjil,  village  of,  ii  196 
Sins  marked  on  hands  by  God,  i  16 
Sirach,  Son  of,  refers  to  winn  oving,  i.  150 ; 
speaks  of  “  necessaries”  of  life,  i.  213 


INDEX. 


531 


Sirocco,  the,  ii.  61,  62  ;  frequently  noticed  by 
prophets,  ii.  62,  63 

Sisera,  defeat  of,  i.  11,  37;  ii.  261,  262,263; 
murder  of,  by  Jael,  i.  11 ;  watch-t^wer 
of,  ii.  374 

Sites  of  ancient  cities,  i.  30 
Skin,  water-bottles  of,  i.  5 ;  of  crocodile  at 
Nazareth,  i.  66 

Skull  of  camel  used  by  hornets  for  nest,  i.  101 
Skulls  of  murdered  men  fouud  in  tomhs,  i.  7i 
Sk\ ,  description  of,  i.  10,  118  ;  at  Bethlehem, 

i.  452 

Slaughter  of  Jews  at  Ascalon,  i.  198 
Slave  given  as  p  >rt  of  dowry,  i.  444 
Slavery,  spiritual,  under  which  Pharisees  laid 
common  people,  i.  18 

Sledge,  threshing,  iron  teeth  of,  i.  88  ;  sharp 
stones  of,  i.  88;  bride  and  bridegroom 
seated  on,  i.  101  ;  generally  employed  on 
threshing-floor,  i.  147 ;  description  of,  i. 
147;  Job  compares  Leviathan  to,  i.  148; 
driver  sits  on,  i.  148 

Sleeping  in  day  clothes,  i.  216,  276 ;  in  open 
air,  ii.  83 

Sling  used  to  guide  flock,  i.  106 ;  ii.  159 ;  by 
shepherds,  i.  106;  by  hunters,  i.  108;  by 
soldiers,  i.  103;  of  goats1  hair,  i.  106; 
special  skill  of  Benjamitea  in  use  of,  i. 
106 

Slippers,  i.  2,  17,  159,  289 
Smells,  pestilent,  of  Joppa,  i.  5 
Smiths,  implements  used  by,  i.  160 ;  none  in 
Israel,  i.  160 

Smithy  in  bazaar  street  of  Joppa,  i.  13 
Smoke,  roof  blackened  with,  i.  70 
Smoking  nargilehs,  i.  13,  16 
Snakes,  i.  2 1 9,  240;  ii.  366;  horned,  danger 
from,  i.  247 ;  absence  of,  in  Malta,  i.  248 
Snares  for  wild  animals,  i.  103 
Snow  melting  on  Lebanon,  i.  124, 125 ;  in  Pales¬ 
tine,  ii.  58 

Soap  works  formerly  at  Lydda,  i.  32 ;  chief 
manufacture  of  Gaza,  i.  169  ;  at  Nablus, 

ii.  214 

Soba,  village  of,  i.  43 
Socoh,  i.  107,  108,  110 ;  ruins  of,  i.  112 
Sodom,  apple  of,  ii.  117 ;  destruction  of,  ii.  119 
Soil,  character  of,  round  Ramleh,  i.  33  ;  fer¬ 
tile,  though  sandy,  i.  33;  large  proportion 
uncultivated,  i.  77  ;  rich  in  Valley  of  Elali, 
i.  109  ;  fertile  at  Esdud,  i.  127  ;  uuder  olives 
ploughed  each  year,  i.  142 ;  richness  of, 
at  Esdraelon,  ii.  248 
Solam,  ancient  Shunern,  ii.  251 
Soldiers,  Turkish,  murdered  by  Napoleon  I., 
i.  24  ;  Jews  had  foot,  only,  i.  36  ;  Jamnia 
said  to  have  put  40,000  in  field,  i.  90  ;  Ma- 
hommedan,  i.  270 ;  sujiplied  by  Sheikh,  i. 
307 

Solomon,  walls  of  Jerusalem  built  by,  i.  61  ; 
“teben”  to  be  provided  for  horses  of,  i. 
88  ;  married  to  Pharaoh’s  daughter,  i.  98  ; 
plentifulness  of  cedar  and  sycamore  trees 
under,  i.  135;  fowls  for  table  of,  i.  160; 
quarries  of,  ii.  18  ;  water  system  arranged 
by,  ii.  36  ;  dealings  of,  with  Hiram,  ii.  301  ; 
introduces  chariots,  ii.  372 
Solomon’s  Pools,  i.  376— 378,  403 ;  Porch,  i.  513 
Son,  desire  for  a,  an*  cdotes  of,  i.  280  ;  import¬ 
ance  attached  to  birth  of,  i.  2sl 
Songs  at  marriage-feasts,  i.  101 
Sorek,  Valley  of,  i.  102,  103 
Sores  produced  by  flies,  i.  96 
sow,  peasant  has  still  “  to  go  forth  to,”  i.  57 
Spain.  St.  Paul  leaves  Caesarea  for,  i.  60 
Sparrows  known  to  build  in  dried  body  of 
crow  or  hawk,  i.  101 
Spears,  weight  of  giants’,  i.  119 
Spices  exported,  i.  139 
Spies,  Hebrew,  i.  86 

i  i  2 


Spina  Christi,  or  Nubk-thorn,  ii.  72,  84 
Spines,  or  prickles,  i.  50 
Spinning,  i.  172 

Sprii  g,  brilliant  flowers  of  the,  i.  33  ;  crops 
m,  i.  144  ;  in  desert  regions,  i.  259  ;  uncer¬ 
tainty  of,  ii.  479 

Spring,  Gezer  supplied  by,  i.  97  ;  at  Surah, 

i.  99  ;  Tibnab,  i.  100  ;  rock,  i.  309,  310  ;  “  of 
the  Sun,”  ii.  66;  “of  the  Blessed  Mary,” 

ii.  149  ;  “  of  the  Robbers,”  ii.  194 
Springs,  in  Jerusalem,  i.  27  ;  none  in  South 

Palestine,  i.  27 ;  few  rise  to  surface,  i. 
27  ;  indifferent  quality  of,  in  Jerusalem,  i. 
27  ;  of  insufficient  quantity  in  Jerusalem, 
i.  27 ;  forming  river  Ras-el-Ain,  i.  55 ; 
bursting  from  ground,  Plain  of  Sharon, 

i.  57  ;  in  bed  of  Rub  n,  i.  89  ;  of  “  living” 
water,  i.  236;  supplying  Temple,  &e.,  i. 
386  ;  used  to  supply  Solomon’s  Pools,  i. 
397,  398;  numerous,  in  Judaean  hills,  ii. 
139 ;  jealousy  with  which  guarded,  ii. 
209  ;  S  dem,  ii.  2  9  ;  Ain  Jalud,  Ain  Tu- 
baun,  ii.  250 ;  numerous,  from  Lebanon, 

ii.  385 

Squill,  thought  by  some  to  be  “  rose  of 
Sharon,”  i.  40 

Stables,  vaults  of  theatres  used  as,  by  pea¬ 
sants,  i.  67 

Staff,  shepherd’s,  i.  106,  223 
Stair  outside  to  housetop,  i.  19 
Staircase  to  top  of  White  Tower  at  Ramleh, 
i.  35;  to  water-tunnel  at  Caesarea,  i.  63, 
note 

Statue,  of  Augustus  as  Jupiter  Olympus  at 
Caesarea,  i.  62 ;  effort  to  save,  of  Marnas, 
i.  163 

Staturv,  men  of  gigantic,  among  Philistines, 

i.  119 

Steel  for  striking  fire,  i.  180 
Steps,  flights  of,  to  streets,  i.  6;  outside 
house,  i.  116 

Stone,  buildings  of,  i.  4 ;  smaff  cost  of,  i.  10 ; 
yellow,  from  quarries  near  Jerusalem,  i. 
32  ;  polished,  for  tomb,  i.  45  ;  rarely  used 
with  bricks,  i.  51 ;  artificial,  i.  81 ;  breakers 
squatted  on  ground  at  work,  i.  82  ;  curious 
circles  of,  i.  259  ;  ii.  95,  385  ;  Jacob  using, 
for  pillow,  i.  412;  at  tomb  entrance,  ii. 
52 ;  writing  on,  ii.  218 ;  colossal,  at  Baal¬ 
bek,  ii.  445 

Stones,  with  inscriptions,  i.  28 ;  pilgrims’ 
memorial  of,  i.  34 ;  ancient,  used  for 
modern  houses,  i.  47  ;  finely  cut,  i.  47;  of 
huge  size  at  Athlit,  i.  69  ;  for  road,  i.  82 ; 
ancient  cut,  used  for  mosque,  i.  164  ;  from 
ancient  city  used  for  building,  i.  191 ; 
ancient,  carried  off,  i.  195 ;  ii.  4s 4  ;  heaped 
over  graves  of  unworthy,  ii.  3,  4,  422; 
dressed  before  removing,  ii.  18 ;  vast 
quantities  of,  ii.  113;  presence  of,  ac¬ 
counted  for,  ii.  Ill;  use  for,  ii.  152; 
thrown  on  road,  ii  306 ;  numerous,  on 
ploughed  ground,  ii.  352;  huge,  at  Siclon, 

ii.  483 ;  ruthless  destruction  for  lime,  ii. 
484 

Stoning,  ii.  22 
Stool,  rush,  i.  16,  17 

Store-rooms  for  baggage  carried  by  animals,  i. 
168 

Storm,  hollows  made  by  a,  i.  81 ;  flight  neces¬ 
sary  to  escape,  i.  123;  escai  e  from,  at 
Wady  Feiran,  i.  123,  124 ;  rushes  down 
wad.ys  in  winter,  i.  124;  at  Ascalon  in 
twelfth  century,  i.  198;  violent,  ii.  17; 
intensity  of,  in  Palestine,  ii.  112,  113 ;  on 
Sea  of  Galilee,  ii.  334 
Strabo’s  Tower,  i.  61 
Strap,  leather,  for  girdle,  i.  72 
Straw  cut  for  fodder  in  Western  Asia  and 
Egypt,  i.  88;  only  food  for  horses  or 


532 


INDEX. 


cattle,  i.  88  ;  not  used  for  cattle-sheds,  i. 
156 

Stream,  probable  underground  at  Joppa,  i. 
7 ;  near  Tantureh  fed  by  marshes,  i.  71 ; 
on  coast,  i.  191  ;  flowing  from  Castle  Mir¬ 
abel,  i.  55  ;  underground,  at  Tyre,  ii.  499 
Streams,  perennial,  i.  7,  35  ;  forcing  their  way 
through  sand,  i.  76  ;  weaker,  dry  in  sum¬ 
mer,  i.  80 ;  characteristics  of,  in  Pales¬ 
tine,  i.  123  ;  numerous,  near  Sliechem,  ii. 
231 ;  in  Galilee,  ii.  369 

Street,  crowd  in,  i.  17  ;  fine,  of  Caesarea,  i.  61 ; 

sellers  at  Jerusalem,  i.  460—462 
Streets,  of  .  lop  pa,  i.  4— 6  ;  guide  necessary  at 
niglit  in,  i.  1 1 ;  filthy  condition  of,  i.  159, 
327;  of  Gaza,  i.  163,  164;  not  arched,  i. 
164  ;  covered  in  Hebron,  i.  330 ;  in  Jerusa¬ 
lem,  i.  460 — 462,  471,  472  ;  darkness  of,  i. 
537  ;  at  Nablus,  ii.  214 ;  sameness  of,  ii.  215  ; 
condition  of,  at  Damascus,  ii.  419,  421 ;  at 
in  Beirout,  ii.  458 

Struthion,  perhaps  Bethesda,  i.  500,  note 
Stubble  burnt,  i.  151 
Students,  medical,  at  Beirout,  ii.  465 
Subterranean  passages,  i.  523 
Sugar,  ii.  77 

Sulamith  seized  by  watchmen,  i.  13 
Sulphur  spring,  ii.  115 
Sultan  Suleiman,  i.  544 
Sultan's  Spring,  ii.  71,  75,  77 
Sumach  trees,  ii.  382 

Summer,  description  of,  i.  145  ;  rainless,  i.  147 
Sun,  the,  chariots  of,  i.  36  ;  intense  brightness 
of,  i.  72  ;  worship  of,  by  Philistines,  i.  103  ; 
temple  to,  i.  163  ;  worshippers  of,  praying 
towards  East,  i.  204  ;  burning  pastures,  i. 
216 ;  worship  of,  by  heathen  peoples,  i.  515 
Sunday-school,  at  Damascus,  ii.  463  ;  at  Bei¬ 
rout,  ii.  463 

Superstition,  in  Palestine,  i.  255  ;  among  Arabs, 

i.  281 

Surah,  village  of  mud  huts,  i.  99 ;  ii.  141 ; 

situation  of,  i.  99  ;  ancient  Zorah,  i.  98 
Surf  in  harbour  of  Joppa,  i.  3 
Swaddling  clothes,  i.  154 

Swamp,  caused  by  neglect,  l66  ;  of  the  Jordan, 

ii.  339 

to  wearing,  ii.  308 
Sweetmeats,  i.  17 
“  Swellings”  of  the  Jordan,  ii.  15 
Swimming,  Oriental  manner  of,  i.  152 
Swiue,  abomination  to  Jews,  i.  78  ;  tending,  the 
lowest  occupation  for  a  Jew,  i.  78  ;  owner 
of,  in  parable  must  have  been  a  heathen,  i. 
78  ;  wild,  ii.  147 

Sycamore,  i.  33,  133  ;  ii.  76,  80  ;  fine  shade  of, 
i.  133,  134 ;  very  common  in  parts  of 
Palestine,  i.  133  ;  formerly  planted  along 
frequented  roac  s,  i.  134  ;  probably  im 
ported  from  Egypt,  i.  134  ;  fruit  of,  i.  134 ; 
in  Jordan  vadey  and  Lower  Galilee,  i.  134 ; 
cutting  fruit  of,  i.  134 ;  wood  of,  i.  135 ; 
harvest  of,  i.  135 ;  very  plentiful  in  ancient 
times,  i.  135;  of  great  value  to  Hebrews, 

i.  135 ;  used  for  building,  i.  135 ;  woods,  i. 
135 

Sycbar,  Asker,  ii.  210 
Sykaminon,  see  Haifa 

Symbols,  Christum,  m  caverns,  i.  304 ;  over 
s  nagogue  e  dranc-q  ii.  333 
Synagogues,  r  joicing  in,  i.  521 ;  of  Tell  Hfhn, 

ii.  338,  353 

Syria,  Roman  governor  of.  i.  90  ;  to  suffer 
vengeance  of  Jehovah  for  torturing 
Gilead,  i.  119;  imported  horses  in  anti¬ 
quit',  i.  155;  alliance  with,  results  of,  i. 
552 

Syriac  version,  i.  103 

Syrian  fleet,  i.  4  ;  worship  at  Bethlehem,  i.  418 
Syrians,  dress  of,  i.  2;  iron  sway  of,  i.  85; 


boa-ted  of  destruction  of  Israel,  i.  149; 
chapel  of,  i.  483 ;  flight  over  Jordan,  ii.  99 

Tabernacle  at  Gibeon  or  Nob,  i.  133  ;  destruc¬ 
tion  of,  at  Shiloh,  i.  133;  of  David,  at 
Jerusalem,  i.  138  ;  at  Nob,  ii.  158  ;  at 
Gibeon,  ii.  169 

Tabghuh,  fountain  of,  ii.  354 
Table,  stone  and  clay,  i.  70 
Tablets,  ancient,  at  Beirout,  ii.  468 — 4*2  ;  dedi¬ 
cation  of,  in  antiquity,  i.  472 
Tabor,  Mount,  covered  with  stunted  growths, 

i.  65  ;  monastery  on,  ii.  279;  approach  to, 
from  Nazareth,  ii.  277  ;  Greek  church  on, 

ii.  278;  ascent  of,  ii.  278;  view  from,  ii. 
280;  famous  in  Hebrew  poetry,  ii.  281; 
fortified,  ii.  281,  282,  397 ;  churches  on, 
ii.  282;  battle  of,  ii.  3,3 

Tailors  at  work,  i.  159 
Tails,  immense,  of  sheep,  i.  229,  230 
Talmud,  i.  29  ;  mentions  streets  devoted  to 
particular  trades,  i.  160  ;  Jerusalem,  ii.  323 
Tamar,  pledge  given  to,  i.  170;  girls  called 
so,  after  palm,  i.  207 

Tamarisk  wood  swept  away  by  torrent,  i.  124 
Tank,  for  watering  orchard,  i.  10 ;  for  water- 
supply  to  Ramleh,  i.  33;  rain,  i.  44;  for 
cattle  and  herds,  i.  122 ;  at  Bethel,  ii. 
185,  189 

Tannery  at  Hebron,  i.  364 
Tanning,  i.  19 

Tantura,  huts  of,  i.  70 ;  ruins  of,  i.  70 ;  de¬ 
scription  of  house  in,  i.  70  ;  modern  site 
of  village,  i.  70  ;  safe  neighbourhood  of,i.  71 
Tares,  ii.  386 

Tarichgea  taken  by  Yespasian,  ii.  322 
Tarshish,  i.  22,  372 
Tarsus,  St.  Paul’s  journey  to,  i.  60 
Tartan,  Assyrian  military  officer,  i.  129 
Tattooing,  prohibition  of,  limited  in  Exodus, 
i.  14 ;  antiquity  of,  in  East,  i.  14  ;  age  for, 
i.  15;  general  iu  Egypt  and  Palestine, 
i.  15  ;  of  Hindoos’  on  forehead,  i.  15  ; 
materials  used  in,  i.  15  ;  of  Christian  pil¬ 
grims  in  seventeenth  century,  i.  15 ;  univer¬ 
sal  among  Arabs,  i.  15  ;  very  general  among 
modern  Jewish  pilgrims,  i.  15  ;  with  gun¬ 
powder,  i.  15  ;  women  in  Palestine,  i.  432, 
496,  497 

Tax,  heavy,  claimed  by  Government,  i.  72 ; 
collectors,  tents  of,  in  fields,  i.  72  ;  gatherer 
in  olive-grounds,  i.  141;  to  Arabs,  David 
speaks  of,  i.  220 

Taxation,  fear  of  increased,  i.  141  ;  poverty 
caused  by,  i.  278 

Taxes  to  Turkish  Government,  ii.  76 
Teachers,  necessity  for,  ii.  224 
Teben,  description  of,  i.  88  ;  must  be  provided 
by  people,  i.  88 ;  used  now,  as  in  days  of 
patriarchs,  i.  88 ;  and  wheat,  difference 
between,  compared  to  true  and  false  pro¬ 
phecies,  i.  89  ;  used  in  mortar,  i.  171 
Tekoa,  sycamores  in  region  of,  i.  134  ;  woman 
of,  i.  167 ;  stone  ruins  near,  i.  370 ;  ruins 
of,  i.  399—402 

Tell  Arad,  site  of,  i.  265,  352 
Tell  Gezer,  description  of,  i.  96,  97 ;  Zakariyah, 
fine  view  from,  i.  Ill 

Tell  Hum,  ii.  334,  337 ;  synagogue  of,  ii.  353 ; 
tombs  at,  ii.  353 

Tell  Jefat,  siege  by  Yespasian,  ii.  302 
Teil-el-Ful,  view  from,  ii.  161,  162,  164;  Kadi, 
Laisb,  ii.  385 

Tell-el-Jezer,  village  of,  i.  97 
Tell-es-Safieli  supposed  to  be  Gath,  i.  109, 118 ; 
elevation  of,  i.  112  ;  importance  of,  as 
military  position,  i.  113, 118  ;  a  natural  for¬ 
tress,  i.  118  ;  probabilities  in  favour  of  its 
being  ancient  Gath,  i.  119  ;  orchards  and 
olive-groves  of,  i.  122 


INDEX 


533 


Tell  et  Turmus,  village  of,  i.  122 
“  Tells,”  or  mounds,  i.  51  ;  always  found  near 
water  or  clay,  i.  52  ;  wlien  opened,  found 
to  consist  of  sun-dried  bricks,  i.  52 
Temperature,  morning  and  night,  i.  210;  of 
Jerusalem,  ii.  59  ;  Jordan  plains,  ii.  82 
Templars,  fortress  built  by,  i.  68  ;  i.  507 ; 
hostelry  of,  ii.  19 

Temple,  site  of  the,  prepared  by  Solomon,  i, 

61  ;  ploughshare  driven  over  ruins  of,  i. 
91 ;  gi'ts  offered  to,  displayed  on  walls  of, 
i.  133  ;  curtains  m,  i.  172  ;  adorned  with 
gilded  palms,  i.  207;  Treasury,  money  from, 

i.  381 ;  area  of,  i.  469  ;  Unci  sure,  entrance 
to,  i.  501,  502;  multitudes  ascendu  g  to,  i. 
509  ;  area,  associations  of,  i,  509,  510 ;  dif¬ 
ferent  conflicts  in,  i.  511 ;  platform,  splen¬ 
dour  of  walls,  &c.,  i.  512;  cloisters  of,  i. 
512  ;  various  courts  of,  i.  513 — 515  ;  stran¬ 
gers  forbidden  in,  i.  513,  514 ;  Court  of 
Women,  i.  514 ;  Porch  of,  i.  515  ;  veil  of,  i. 
515;  golden  vine,  i.  515;  bridges,  i.  516; 
splendid  appearance  of,  i.  516;  former  level 
of  ground,  i.  516 ;  gate  from  bridge-s  i. 
517 ;  wonderful  fitting  of  stones,  i.  517 ; 
halls  of,  ii.  5 ;  vast  cisterns  of,  ii.  35 ; 
Temple  of  ro’ished  stone,  at  Csesarea,  i. 

62  ;  Samaritan,  destroyed,  ii.  226;  rival,  on 
Gerizim,  ii.  226  ;  relics  of  Roman,  Samaria, 

ii.  234;  Herod’s,  at  Samaria,  ii.  238;  to 
Astarte,  at  Jezreel,  ii.  263  ;  built  by  Herod, 
ii.  395  ;  ruins  of,  at  Baalbek,  ii.  441;  of  the 
Sun,  at  Baalbek,  ii.  442  ;  smaller,  at  Baal¬ 
bek,  ii.  414. 

Temples,  images  huDg  in,  i.  132  ;  heathen,  in 
Gaza,  i.  163 ;  heathen  at  Ascalon,  i.  198  ; 
heathen,  in  Palestine,  ii.  397 
Ten  Tribes,  revolt  of,  i.  22 ;  carried  to  Assyria, 
ii.  390 

Tent-coverings,  soaked  with  moisture,  i.  73 ; 

of  women,  i.  279,  283,  285 
Tents,  black,  of  Arabs,  i.  235,  279  ;  ii.  247, 
219  ;  appearance  of  Arab,  i.  233  ;  pitched 
under  trees,  i.  284 ;  Bible  illustrations 
from,  ii.  189,  190 ;  rapidity  with  which 
struck,  ii.  189;  among  Israelites,  ii.  190; 
at  Feast  of  Tabernacles,  ii.  190  ;  Esdraelon, 
ii.  293  ;  of  Judah,  ii.  381 
Teraphim,  i.  445  ;  destroyed  by  Josiah,  i.  447  ; 
Nebuchadnezzar  consults,  i.  447  ;  descrip¬ 
tion  of,  i.  448,  449 

Terebinth,  at  Socoh,  i.  112  ;  “of  Wady  Sur,’’ 
antiquity  and  size  of,  i.  110  ;  ii.  28,  29 
Terebinths  in  Valley  of  Elah,  i,  110  ;  flight  of 
David  to  Valley  of,  i.  Ill 
Terrace  cultivation,  i.  51 
Terraced  hill,  i.  47  ;  ii.  194,  235,  456,  503 
Terraces  of  “  hanging  gardens,”  i.  8;  covered 
with  corn,  i.  Ill ;  remains  of,  i.  260  ;  across 
Wadv,  i.  309 ;  for  vineyards,  i.  342;  to 
check  floods,  i.  261  ;  for  vines,  i.  364 
Territory  of  Philistines,  extent  of,  i.  83 
Tests  exacted  from  his  followers  by  Barcochba, 

i.  92 

Tetrarchy  of  Philip,  ii.  413 
“  The  eye  of  a  needle,”  possible  explanation, 

ii.  299 

Theatre,  open-air,  at  Caesarea,  i.  62  ;  open-air, 
description  of.  i.  67 ;  of  Herod,  i.  526 ; 
at  Gadara,  ii.  351 
Therapeutae,  i.  396 
Thicket,  i.  50 
Thirzn,  ii.  221 

Thistles,  patches  of,  i.  77  ;  ii.  73,  74 
Thorns,  tangle  of,  i.  65;  various  Hebrew 
words  for,  ii.  74  ;  fire  of,  i.  113  ;  abundance 
<  f,  in  Palest  ine„i.  113  ;  ii.  73  ;  for  fire  kept 
in  tent,  i.  114  ;  burning,  used  as  simile  for 
wrath  of  God,  i.  114;  on  hills  fired  after 
harvest,  i.  111 ;  laughter  of  fools  compared 


to  crackling  of,  i.  114;  frequent  allusions 
to,  in  Scripture,  i.  114;  so  thick  as  to  be 
impenetrable,  i.  115  ;  among  grain,  i.  115  ; 
used  for  hedges,  i.  115  ;  growing  wild,  i. 
115  ;  enactment  of  Moses  against  fire  of, 

i.  115  ;  olive-trees  swallowed  up  by,  i.  141 
Thorny  growths,  abundance  of,  in  hot  coun¬ 
tries,  i.  114 

Threshing,  with  cattle,  i.  88  ;  floor  in  open 
air,  i.  88,  109, 146, 147  ;  sledges,  i.  147  ;  “  in¬ 
struments”  of  Araunah,  i.  148  ;  waggon, 
description  of,  i.  148  ;  sledge,  prisoners 
condemned  to  be  ridden  over  by,  i.  149  ; 
floor,  images  taken  from,  frequent,  in 
Scripture,  i.  151 ;  exposed  situation  chosen 
to  catch  wind,  i.  143  ;  grain  on,  guarded 
by  watchmen  at  night,  i.  147,  365  ;  grain 
piled  on,  i.  147;  preparing  ground  of,  i. 
147  ;  floor,  ii.  138,  139,  2o2,  234 
Tiberias,  rain  falling  through  roof  at,  i.  53  ; 
ancient  and  modern,  ii.  316 ;  holy  town, 

ii.  318  ;  legend  of  the  Messiah’s  rising  at, 
ii.  318 ;  worship  in  synagogue,  ii.  319 ; 
built  by  Herod  Antipas,  ii.  319 ;  former 
grandeur  of,  ii.  319  ;  not  visited  by  Christ, 
ii.  320 ;  ceremonially  unclean,  ii.  320 ; 
tropical  vegetation  near,  ii.  320  ;  built  on 
site  of  ancient  city,  ii.  320,  321 ;  unhealthy 
climate  of,  ii.  320  ;  inducements  to  settle 
in,  ii.  320  ;  ancient  water-supply  of,  ii.  321  ; 
hot  baths  of,  ii.  321 ;  taken  by  Vespasian, 
ii.  322  ;  hot-air  cave  at,  ii.  322 ;  fortified  by 
Josephus,  ii.  322;  later  seat  of  Jewisn 
learning,  ii.  323 

Tibneh,  birth-place  of  Joshua,  i.  42 ;  ruins  of, 
i.  47  ;  Roman  road  through,  i.  51 ;  or 
Timnath,  situation  of,  i.  ICO 
Tiglath  Pileser,  tablet  of,  ii.  470 
Tiles,  manufactory  of,  i.  81 
Tilth,  red  or  black,  i.  35 

Timber,  scarcity  of,  i.  4;  dispensed  with,  i. 
10 ;  for  Temple,  i.  21 ;  in  building,  prac¬ 
tically  unknown  in  Pales  line,  i.  ol ;  nu¬ 
merous  herds  of  goats  partly  account  for 
dwarf,  i.  65 ;  poverty  of,  in  Palestine,  i. 
135  ;  David  appoints  an  overseer  for  his, 
i.  135 

Time,  method  of  reckoning,  in  the  East,  ii. 
307 

Timnath,  ruins  of,  i.  100 ;  home  of  Samson’s 
bride,  i.  100  ;  Philistine  village  in  time  of 
Samson,  i.  100;  ii.  423 
Timnath- Serah,  i.  48 
Timur  takes  Damascus,  ii.  423 
Tissue,  silver,  H  er  id  Aarippa  in  robes  of,  i.  60 
Titus  ce  ebrated  gam  s  in  circus  of  Cmsarea, 

1.  63  ;  permits  removal  of  Rabbinical  Col¬ 
lege  to  Jamnia,  i.  91 ;  celebrates  victory 
at  Jerusalem,  ii.  399 

Tobacco,  fields  of,  i.  70 

Tomb,  of  St.  George,  i.  31 ;  description  of  re¬ 
markable,  near  Tibneh,  i.  47  ;  of  Joshua 
at  Timnath  Serah,  i.  48  ;  identification 
disputed,  i.  49 ;  old  Jewish,  i.  71 ;  Mahom- 
medan,  crowns  hill  at  Gezer.  i.  97 ;  a  Mus¬ 
sulman,  description  of,  i.  99  ;  of  Mussul¬ 
man  saint,  i.  103;  at  El-Muntar,  i.  184; 
purchase  of,  by  Abraham,  i.  339—342;  of 
Rachel,  i.  406  ;  of  Christ,  i.  482  ;  ii.  23  ; 
of  Joseph,  i.  483  ;  description  of  a,  ii.  23, 
24 :  possible,  of  Lazarus,  ii.  41—43 ;  of 
the  Kings,  ii.  52,  53  ;  of  Simon  the  J  ust, 
ii.  55  ;  of  Phinelias,  ii.  207  ;  of  Eleazar,  ii. 
207 

Tombs,  rock-hewn,  i.  28,  44,  58,  103,  547;  ii.  1, 

2,  52,  198,  266  ;  peasantry  use  stones  from, 
for  building  purposes,  i.  28  ;  seven,  found 
at  Midieli,  l  44  ;  in  hillside  near  Tibneh, 
i.  47 ;  frequency  of,  i.  70  ;  used  to  bide 
bodies  of  murdered  men  in,  i.  71 ;  ancient, 


534 


1XDEX. 


in  rocks  at  Minet  Rubin,  i.  89  ;  cave,  i, 
397;  adornment  of,  ii.  48\  483;  David 
makes,  i.  525  ;  caves,  living  in,  i.  559 ; 
ancient  construction  of,  ii.  21 ;  Inter  con¬ 
struction  of,  ii.  21;  of  the  Judges,  ii. 
51;  ancient,  at  Tiberias,  ii.  320,  321;  at 
Gadara,  ii.  359,  351 ;  at  Tell  Hum,  ii.  353  ; 
at  Sidon,  ii.  432,  483 

Torrent  bearing  everything  before  it,  i.  123 ; 
desciiption  of  winter,  i.  123  ;  irresistible 
rush  of,  i.  123,  125 

Torrents,  channels  worn  by,  i.  57 ;  winter, 
cause  ravines,  i.  1 12  ;  rapidity  of  formation 
and  descent,  i.  123;  leaping  down  hills  in 
Hermon,  i.  125  ;  noise  of  dashing,  i.  126  ; 
dry  stony  beds  of,  i.  136 
Tower,  Strabo’s,  i.  61 ;  wall  of  a,  at  Athlit,  i.  69 ; 
at  Tanturah,  i.  70  ;  pigeon,  i.  151 ;  of  David, 
i.  465,  534  ;  view  from,  i.  466—469 
Towers,  at  Sharon,  i.  27 ;  at  Jerusalem,  i.  464 ; 
of  Herod,  i.  526 

“Town  of  the  Maccabees,”  i.  43 
‘  Town  house”  in  German  colony,  i.  81 
Towns,  ancient,  possibly  more  wood  used  in 
building  of,  i.  51 ;  of  Amorites,  “  walled 
up  to  heaven, ”  i.  86 ;  Jewish,  to  be  for  i- 
fied,  i.  92;  ruins  of  ancient,  i.  67,  68; 
falling  as  car  .van  trade  failed,  i.  128; 
Eastern,  extreme  filth  of,  i.  159 
Tra  ts,  untilEd,  i.  142 

Trade,  formerly  each,  kept  to  separate  streets, 

i.  159  ;  ii.  424  ;  honourable  in  all,  i.  173 
Trades,  ancient  Hebrew,  i.  170  ;  in  open  air, 

ii.  421 

Tradesmen  at  Jerusalem,  i.  491 ;  Damascus,  ii. 
420,  424 

Traffic,  former,  gone  from  East,  i.  128 
Transfiguration,  ii.  397 
Trappings,  horse,  i.  16 
Travellers  to  Jordan  Plains,  ii.  83 
Travelling,  only  accomplished  on  horse  or  ass, 

i.  36  ;  attendant',  dress  of,  i.  267 ;  prepa¬ 
rations  for,  i.  328,  329  ;  ea-t  of  Jordan,  ii. 
120;  difficulty  of,  in  Palestine,  ii.  300 

Travels  of  Egyptian  Mobar,  ii.  257 

Treading  oil  discontinued,  i.  142 

Treasure,  hidden  in  field,  ii.  29,  484  ;  seekers, 

ii.  484 

Treat  v  between  Abraham  and  Abimelech,  i. 
256 

Trees,  absence  of  lofty,  in  Western  Palestine, 
i.  49 ;  none  obtained  by  Solomon  from 
Palestine,  i.  50 ;  fir,  i.  51 ;  desolate  ap¬ 
pearance  of  land  without,  i.  65 ;  growing 
far  apart  in  Palestine,  i.  65 ;  well-grown, 
in  north,  i.  65  ;  planted  along  thorough¬ 
fares,  i.  134;  olive,  each  taxed ,  i.  141;  marked 
with  charms,  i.  255  ;  planted  by  Abrahaih, 

i.  256;  absence  of,  near  Ziph,  i.  357; 
“holy  ”  of  Mahommedans,  ii.  206  ;  at  Nain, 

ii.  266 ;  near  Nazareth,  ii.  277  ;  at  Acre,  ii. 
297 ;  source  of  J  ordan,  ii.  336 

Trials,  swift  decision  in  Oriental,  i.  21 
Tribe,  blood  revenge  an  affair  of  the,  i.  167 
Tribute,  paid  to  tribe  of  Manasseli  by  the 
Canaanites,  i.  69  ;  of  lambs,  i.  231 
Troops,  disciplined,  of  Philistines,  i.  85  ;  under 
Gideon,  ii.  258 

Trough,  for  water-supply  of  gardens,  i.  8  ;  con¬ 
nected  with  water-wheel,  i.  8  ;  water,  i.  25, 
69,  107  ;  ancient,  at  Gerar,  i.  237 
Tr<  users,  blue  cotton,  i.  2 
Trumpet  for  calling  Hebrews  to  prayer,  l.  203 
Tulips,  i.  39 

Tumours,  internal,  i.  94 
Tunic,  fear  of  lo-ing,  i.  102 
Tunnel  for  water,  i.  63;  ii.  35 
Turban,  i.  2,  5,  14,  17  ;  on  tomb  of  Saladin,  ii. 
436 

Turbans,  white,  of  peasants,  i.  72 


Turk,  Joppa  under,  i.  24  ;  neglect  under  rule 
of,  i.  89  ;  taxes  of,  i.  141 
Turkish  rule,  insecurity  under,  i.  28 ;  rule, 
curse  of,  i.  121 
Turkish  bath,  ii.  459 — 461 
Turrnus  Aya,  village  of,  i.  196,  197 
Turtle-doves,  offered  by  the  Virgin,  i.  45 ; 
offered  by  a  woman  after  birth  of  a  child, 
i.  45  ;  accepted  as  sin-offering,  i.  45  ;  more 
numerous  in  Palestine  than  elsewhere, 

i.  45 ;  only  bird  offered  on  altar,  i.  45 ; 
offered  by  poor  as  burnt-offering,  i.  45,  46  ; 
offered  at  purification  of  a  leper,  i.  45  ; 
regularity  of  migration  and  return  of,  i. 
45  ;  offered  by  Abraham,  i.  46  ;  emblem  of 
purity,  i.  46 ;  migration  of,  i.  48 

Tyre,  port  of,  destroyed  by  sand,  i.  22 ;  trade 
with,  i.  139 ;  great  demand  for  lambs  at,  i. 
231 ;  famous  dye  works  in,  ii.  482, 498 ;  mode 
of  concealing  tombs  in,  ii.  485 ;  situation  of, 

ii.  495 ;  modern,  ii.  495 ;  ancient  sea  wall  at, 
ii.  496,  498 ;  harbourage  in,  ii.  496  ;  size  of 
ancient,  ii.  496,  497  ;  ruins  of,  ii.  496,  497 ; 
mercantile  marine  of,  ii.  497  ;  greatness  of, 
ii.  498  ;  cathedral  ruins  of,  ii.  498  ;  ancient 
water-supply  of,  ii.  499;  energy  of  ancient 
inhabitants  of,  ii.  499 ;  glory  gone,  ii.  499  ; 
besieged  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  ii.  5  0  ;  de¬ 
nounced  by  Ezekiel,  ii.  500 ;  episodes  in 
history  of,  ii.  500;  famous  for  shipbudd¬ 
ing,  ii.  500  ;  skill  in  navigation,  ii.  500 ; 
besieged  by  Shalmaneser  III.,  ii.  500;  be¬ 
sieged  by  Alexander,  ii.  500,  5ol ;  colonies 
of,  ii.  500 

Tyropceon,  Valley,  royal  burying-place  in,  i. 
516,  525,  548 ;  ii.  5 

Um  Keis,  ii.  350 

Uncleanness,  ceremonial,  i.  99 ;  ii.  56  ;  cere¬ 
monial,  caused  by  presence  of  death,  i. 
99 ;  of  people,  ii.  375,  451 
Urim  and  Tliummim,  i.  415 
Urtas,  village  of,  i.  382  ;  pasturage  in  valley 
of,  i.  386 

Uzziali,  difficulty  to  get  water  for  his  flocks, 

i.  27  ;  breaks  down  walls  of  Jabneel,  i.  90  ; 
takes  Ashdod,  i.  129 

Valley,  at  Bethshemesh,  i.  103 ;  bed  of, 
changed  by  storm,  i.  124  ;  of  Hebron,  i. 
342 ;  of  Hinnom,  ii.  34  ;  of  sidr-tree.  ii.  67  ; 
“of  Little  Thorn-tree,”  ii.  172  ;.  of  Ajalon, 

ii.  175  ;  at  Ain  Haramiyeh,  ii.  Iy4 ;  of 
Shechem,  ii.  208 

Valleys,  become  water-courses  after  rain,  i.  43 ; 

numerous,  near  Zakariyah,  i.  Ill 
Vases,  terra-cotta,  found  in  tombs,  i.  28 
Vat,  immense  oil,  i.  69 

Vaults,  immense,  at  Ramleh,  i.  34 ;  beneath 
Roman  theatre,  i.  67  ;  interior  of  citadel 
honeycombed  with,  i.  69 ;  under  Temple 
rock,  i.  506,  507 ;  in  temple  at  Baalbek, 
ii.  443 

Vegetables,  i.  17,  159,  383 

Vegetation,  luxuriant,  possible  on  plains  with 
industry  and  irrigation,  i.  121 ;  poor,  i. 
189;  in  Jordan  valley,  ii.  71,  72;  round 
.  Dead  Sea,  ii.  106  ;  near  Shechem,  ii.  231 ; 
tropical,  at  'liberias,  ii.  320 ;  near  Merom, 
ii.  382 

Vehicles,  wheeled,  i.  81 ;  open,  for  travelling, 
i.  82 

Veils,  black,  women  wearing,  i.  87  ;  worn  at 
Gaza,  i.  181  ;  of  women,  i.  2,  87,  211,  496  ;  ii. 
213,  274  ;  double,  i.  496  ;  of  Temple,  i.  515  ; 
Christian  women  wear  none,  ii.  273 
Venus,  temple  to,  i.  163 
Verandahs,  stone,  i.  10 

Vespasian,  storm  in  reign  of,  i.  4  ;  Joppa 
suffers  under,  i.  23;  settles  veterans  at 


INDEX. 


535 


Emmaus,  ii.  143 ;  takes  Tiberias,  ii.  322  ; 
takes  Tarichsea,  ii.  322 
Vestments  worn  by  priests  of  Dagon,  i.  131 
Vetches,  fields  of,  i.  90 
Via  Dolorosa,  traditions  of,  i.  499 
Villagers,  dwelling  in  hills  for  safety,  i.  109  ; 
curiosity  of,  i.  133  ;  friendly,  gather  for 
conversation,  i.  133 

Villages,  frequency  of,  on  elevated  land,  i. 
30;  on  hill-slopes,  i.  42  ;  ancient,  sites  of, 
marked  by  “tells,”  i.  52  ;  one  thousand 
taken  from  Romans,  i.  92  ;  Arab,  ii.  383  ; 
cabins  in,  ii.  378;  Druse,  on  Mount  Her- 
mon,  ii.  401 

Villas  at  Caesarea,  i.  62 ;  covering  hills,  i.  67 ; 

of  wealthy  Jews  and  Romans,  ii.  27 
Vine,  cultivated  in  all  ages  in  Palestine,  i.  317, 
318  ;  cultivated  in  all  parts  of  Palestine,  i. 
318  ;  and  the  fig-tree,  ii.  135,  151 
Vinegar,  bread  soaked  in,  eaten  by  peasants, 
i.  145 ;  given  to  Christ,  i.  322  ;  and  water, 
drink,  i.  423 

Vines,  from  American  plants,  i.  81 ;  native, 
exjaosed  to  disease,  i.  81 ;  in  German 
colony,  i.  81 ;  eaten  by  field-mice,  i  94 ; 
trained  over  houses,  i.  319,  320  ;  priming, 
i.  320  ;  stems  of,  i.  325  ;  appearance  of,  i. 
334  ;  planted  among  stones,  ii.  445 
Vineyards,  i.  24,  42,  314;  owned  by  Germans, 
i.  24  ;  terraces  for,  fallen  to  ruin,  i.  97  ; 
fenced,  i.  145  ;  keepers  of,  i.  314  ;  care  of, 
i.  319  ;  robbed  by  wild  animals,  i.  319 
Vintage,  time  of  rejoicing,  i.  316 
Viper,  yellow,  i.  241,  242,  247 
Virgin,  legend  concerning  the,  i.  419 
Virgin’s  Fountain,  ii.  1 ;  Nazareth,  ii.  272,  273 
Virgin’s  Tree,  ne»r  Cairo,  i.  8 
Virgin’s  Well,  perhaps  Diagon  Well,  i.  553; 

peculiarity  of  waters,  i.  552,  561 
Vision  of  St.  Peter  at  Joppa,  i.  59 
Voice  heard  at  distance,  ii.  220 
Volcanic  action  in  Palestine,  ii.  109,  111 ;  re¬ 
mains  of  energy  around  Chorazin,  ii.  357  ; 
formation  of  country,  near  Damascus,  ii. 
414 

Votive  offerings,  i.  132 

Waar,  the  “yaar”  of  Scripture,  i.  49;  used 
for  thickets,  i.  65 
Wady  Ajlhn,  ii.  69 
Wady  Akrabeli,  i.  112 
Wady  Artabbali,  i.  43 
Wady  Belameh,  ii.  245 
Wady  el-Dilbeh,  i.  363 
Wady  el-Hesy,  i.  196 
Wady  el-Khalil,  i.  263 
Wady  en  Nar,  ii.  123 
Wady  kschol,  i.  332 
Wady  es  Scheria,  i.  352 
W»dy  es  Seir,  i.  108 

Wady  es  8unt,  water-wbeel  in,  i.  10;  meaning 
of,  i.  105,  107 — 109,  111;  appearance  of, 
i.  112 

Wady  es  Surar,  i.  98,  132,  324 
Wady  Farah,  ii.  229. 

Wauy  Feik,  l.  116 

Wady  Feirau,  description  of  storm  in,  i.  123 

Wady  Ghuzzeh,  “deceitful  brook,’’  i.  215,  236 

Wady  Hamam,  ii.  329 

Wady  Hanein,  mins  in,  i.  262 

Wady  Ismain,  ii.  140 

Wady  Jalud,  ii.  255 

Wady  Kelt,  ii.  68-70,  184 

Wady  Kerazeh,  ii.  354 

Wady  Khureitun,  i.  397 

Wady  Lejja,  tributary  to  Aujeh  in  rainy 
months,  i.  55 
Wady  Muttuk,  ii.  146 
Wa<ty  Nnjil,  ii  110 
Wady  Seilun,  ii.  203 


Wady  Sorek,  i.  119 ;  ii.  146 
Wady  Surar,  ii.  140,  148 
Wady  Suweinit,  ii.  172,  175 
Wady  Urtas,  i.  376—378  ;  spots  of  fertility  in, 
i.  403 

Wadys  in  winter  foaming  torrents,  i.  123  ;  in 
summer  show  no  sign  of  winter  torrents, 
i.  124 

Waggons,  factory  for  making,  i.  81 ;  thresh¬ 
ing,  description  of,  i.  148 ;  brought  from 
Egypt,  i.  153  ;  used  in  antiquity  for  carry- 
in  g  grain,  i.  153  and  note 
Wailing  for  dead,  i.  176  ;  women,  i.  541 ;  for 
Josiah,  ii.  260,  261 

Wall  round  Joppa  built  by  English  and  Turks, 

i.  21;  of  Jerusalem  built  by  Solomon,  i. 
61 ;  sea,  once  fortified  at  Athlit,  i.  68  ; 
immense  thickness  of,  i.  69,  128 ;  remains 
of  ancient,  at  Esdud,  i.  127 ;  mud,  to 
courts,  i.  127,  158 ;  remains  of,  at  Gaza,  i. 
164;  ruins  of,  at  Ascalon,  i.  193  ;  serpents 
hiding  in,  i.  246  ;  of  Temple  space,  i.  503; 

ii.  5 ;  of  Jerusalem,  ii.  39 ;  ruined,  at 
Shiloh,  ii.  199 ;  houses  on,  ii.  423 

Wall-plants,  i.  471 

War,  last,  Jewish,  i.  63;  Western  science  of, 
learned  by  Philistines,  i.  85  ;  prisoners  of, 
condemned  to  be  ridden  over  by  thresh¬ 
ing-waggon,  i.  149  ;  between  Arab  tribes, 
i.  166  ;  consequent  on  blood  revenge,  i.  167 
Washing,  mode  of,  i.  369  ;  ii.  244,  300 
Watchmen  in  streets  after  nine  at  night,  i.  13; 
asleep  on  ground,  i.  13  ;  to  guard  against 
fire,  i.  115  ;  at  Samaria,  i.  218  ;  in  vineyard, 
i.  315 

Water,  carrier,  i.  5,  286,  495,  557 ;  abundance 
of,  for  orchards,  i.  7  ;  wheels,  i.  7,  8 ; 
wheels,  ancient  Egyptian,  i.  9  ;  turned  on 
flower-beds  bv  use  of  foot,  i.  9;  flooding 
of  gardens  with,  i.  9 ;  raising  by  manual 
labour,  i.  10,  note  ;  placed  at  roadside  to 
refresh  travellers,  i.  26  ;  lily,  said  by  some 
to  be  the  “  lily  of  the  va  ley,”  i.  41  ;  course, 
i.  43,  136  ;  ii.  168;  percolation  of,  stopped 
by  bard  rock  in  bills,  i.  58;  mo  ie  of  rais¬ 
ing,  for  irrigating  garden,  &c.,  i.  81  ;  raised 
from  well  by  oxen,  i.  81,  137;  jar,  i.  99, 
143 ;  fall  probably  heard  by  David  when 
writing  42nd  Psalm,  i.  125  ;  spouts  com¬ 
mon  on  coast  of  Palestine,  i.  126  ;  spouts, 
Bible  use  of  word,  not  like  ours,  i.  126  ; 
whee  s,  ropes  for,  i.  135;  cold,  precious 
gift  in  hot  climate,  i.  143  ;  suppl.v  at  Bur- 
berah,  i.  154 ;  at  Gaza,  i.  169 ;  at  El -Muntar, 
i.  185  ;  fresh,  clo  e  to  sea,  i.  190 ;  at  Asca¬ 
lon,  i.  192  ;  scarcity  of,  in  encampments, 
i.  212  ;  strife  about,  i.  227  ;  pits,  numbers 
of,  in  Palestine,  i.  275 ;  ii.  502  ;  abundance 
of,  in  Negeb,  i.  354  ;  supply,  ancient,  great 
provision  for,  i.  380,  382;  ii.  35;  skins  in 
fields,  i.  424;  jar  carried  on  shoulder, 
i.  443  ;  wonderful  supply  at ; Temple,  i. 
503  ;  ii.  31  ;  tunne',  i.  550,  561 ;  at  Jerusa¬ 
lem,  ii.  31  ;  foulness  of,  ii.  33,  34,  327, 
328  ;  shed,  Pa ’es  fine,  ii.  227  ;  fowl,  ii.  370, 
3S0  ;  at  Harrah,  ii.  371 
Weaning  of  children,  i.  211 ;  age  for,  ii.  275 
Weather,  changes  of,  in  Palest  ne,  ii.  65 
Weavers,  i.  169,  172,  331 ;  ii.  231 
Weeds  choking  olive-trees,  i.  141 ;  burning,  ii. 
244 

“  Welee,”  or  “  favouri'e  of  heaven,”  i.  120 
Weli,  place  of  prayer,  ii.  440 
Well,  water  raised  out  of,  i.  7 ;  depth  of,  i. 
10  note,  169  ;  description  of,  i.  19;  a  mark 
of  wealth,  i.  26;  mentioned  twenty-five 
times  in  Pentateuch,  i.  49 ;  only  one  in 
C£e>area,  i.  64 ;  at  Ekron,  i.  93  ;  at  Tdl-el- 
Safieli,  i.  118;  in  court  of  Kahn,  i.  168  ;  of 
Zacharias  and  Elizabeth,  ii.  149 ;  stone 


536 


INDEX. 


over,  at  Samaria,  ii.  210  ;  construction  of, 
at  Samaria,  i.  211 ;  “  of  ’the  Pit,”  ii.  244 ; 
of  Nazareth,  ii.  272 

Wells,  i.  52,  90,  227  ;  gardens  watered  from,  i. 
29 ;  of  various  dates,  i.  30 ;  in  gardens,  i. 
31  ;  to  supply  Rainleh,  i.  33  ;  mentioned 
before  Hebrew  invasion,  i.  49  ;  at  Kefr  Saba, 
i.  56;  ancient,  in  Cave  of  Adullam,  i.  107 ;  at 
Keilali,  i.  Ill ;  rope  for,  135 ;  public  pro¬ 
perty,  i.  137  ;  at  El  Mejdel,  i.  137  ;  nume¬ 
rous  near  Gerar,  i.  235,  236  ;  used  as  grain 
cisterns,  i.  236  ;  of  Abraham  and  Isaac,  i, 
236 ;  of  Beersheba,  i.  251 ;  age  of,  i.  251  ; 
at  Beit  Jibrin,  i.  299;  filled  up,  i.  354, 
355  ;  at  Bethlehem,  i.  429  ;  in  East,  i.  443|; 
“filling  up,”  ii.  167  ;  at  Acre,  ii.  300 
Wheat,  men  of  Bethshemesh  reaping,  i.  104; 
from  the  Hauran,  i.  139  ;  roasted,  eaten 
by  peasants,  i.  145;  reaped  after  barley,  i. 
146  ;  yield  of,  i.  153  ;  at  Burberah,  i.  155 ; 
ears,  disciples  taking,  on  Sabbath,  i.  348  ; 
fields  at  Juttah,  i.  348 

Wheel,  description  of  water,  i.  81 ;  stone, 
rolled  over  olives  to  extract  oil,  i.  142 
Whirlwind,  ii.  64 

White,  mourning  colour,  i.  175,  179 
“  Whited  sepulchres,”  i.  99 
Whitewash  universal  on  Mussulman  tombs,  i. 
99,  ii.  354 

Wife,  buying,  ii.  284 
“  Wild  olives,”  i.  139 

Wilderness,  meaning  of,  i.  215,  216  •  descrip¬ 
tion  of,  i.  216  ;  animals  of,  i.  390  ;  of  J  udaea, 
i.  395 

Willows  in  pools  at  Castle  Mirabel,  i.  55 
Wind,  west,  danger  of  in  harbour  of  Joppa,  i. 
1;  strong,  unfavourable  to  winn  >wiug,  i. 
150  ;  sound  of,  in  branches,  ii.  294 
Winds,  effect  of,  in  Palestine,  ii.  60,  61 
Windmill  for  pumping,  i.  81 
Windows  of  Eastern  houses,  i.  11 ;  overhane- 
im*  street,  i.  13;  description  of,  i.  19,  20; 
of  various  shapes,  i.  35  ;  <mly  holes  in 
walls,  i.  70 ;  absence  of,  ii.  192 
Wine,  spiced,  i.  322  ;  “  on  the  lees,”  i.  323 
Wine-palm,  i.  206 

Wine-press,  i.  147  ;  treading,  i.  316 ;  descrip¬ 
tion  of,  i.  315,  316,  321  ;  immense,  at  Dha- 
beriyeh,  i.  382 

Winnowing,  i.  148,  150,  365;  done  in  evening, 
and  throirgh  night,  i.  149 
Winnowiugs,  two,  nece-sary,  i.  150 
Winter  rains,  channel  of,  ii.  152 
“  Wise  woman”  of  Tekoa,  i.  399 
"Witness,  false,  i.  21 

Witnesses  necessary  to  condemn,  i.  168 
Wives,  buying,  ii.  336;  service  for,  ii.  336, 
337 

Wood,  expense  of,  i.  10  ;  for  Temple,  difficulty 
of  bringing  from  sea,  l.  22;  scarcity  of, 
l.  122,  467  ;  David  imports,  i.  524 
Woodland,  not  enough  for  birds,  i.  42  ;  near 
Mukhalid,  i.  75 

Woods,  meaning  of  words  so  translated  in 
Bible,  i.  49  ;  or  “  yaar,”  i.  50 
Wool,  various  uses  of,  i.  172 
Woman  and  child  riding  on  an  ass  recalls  the 
journey  to  Egypt,  i.  158 
Women,  veiled,  i.  2,  17,  87;  unveiled,  i.  14; 
dress  of,  in  Joppa,  i.  14  ;  few,  met  in 


Joppa,  i.  16;  drawing  water,  i.  26;  fill 
drinking-fountain  daily,  i.  143  ;  erect  car¬ 
riage  of,  i.  154 ;  carrying  baskets  on  the 
head,  i.  158;  Arab,  dress  of,  i.  252;  of 
Bethlehem,  i.  432  ;  Court  of,  in  Temple, 

i.  514  ;  “mourning,”  541,  542  ;  dress  of, ii. 
206 ;  working  in  fields,  ii.  206  ;  of  Naza¬ 
reth,  ii.  275 ;  seen  in  public,  ii.  347 

Work  honourable  in  East,  i.  229 
Worship,  oil  used  at,  i.  139  ;  of  heavenly 
bodies,  i.  452 

Worshipping  towards  the  East,  i.  515 
Wrath  of  Eastern  monarch  compared  to  roar¬ 
ing  of  lion,  i.  74  1 

Wreckage  on  coast,  i.  4  ;  of  ancient  Jerusalem, 

ii.  5 

Wrens  known  to  build  in  dried  body  of  crow 
or  hawk,  i.  101 
Wristlet,  silver,  i.  14 

Writing  known  in  Canaan,  i.  490 ;  learnt  by 
Hebrews  in  Egypt,  490 

Xystus,  the,  a  great  colonnade  at  Jerusalem, 
i.  526 

Yaar,  God  threatens  to  turn  vineyards  into, 
i.  50;  may  have  meant  “woods”  in  one 
sense,  i.  65  ;  haunted  by  wild  beasts  in 
time  of  prophets,  i.  66  ;  of  Hareth,  i. 
Ill 

Yabneh,  ancient  Jamnia,  i.  89  ;  antiquity  of, 

i.  90 

Yabrud,  ii.  191,  192 

Yalo,  spring,  ii.  134,  135 

Yarun,  ruins  at,  ii.  369 

Yazur,  village  of,  i.  28 

Yehudiyeh,  E1-,  village  cf,  i.  29,  51 

Youth  of  Israel  spoken  of  as  dew,  i.  74 

Zabura,  Abu,  harbour  of,  i.  71 

Zaccheus,  climbing  the  sycamore,  i.  134 ; 

Christ  received  by,  ii.  80 
Zaherany,  river,  ii.  489,  491 
Zarephath,  widow  of,  ii.  253 
Zarthan,  vaults  for  Temple  made  at,  ii.  99 
Zecliariah  speaks  of  teraphim,  i.  447  ;  tomb  of, 

ii.  1,  2 

Zedekiah  seized  by  Cbaldasans,  ii.  79 
Zeita,  situation  of,  i.  57  ;  ruins  round,  i.  292 
Zephath  taken  from  Canaanites,  i.  262 
Zerin,  ancient  Jezreel,  ii.  246 
Zerka,  river,  i.  63,  67,  71  ;  drains  marsh,  i.  66  ; 

plain  near,  i.  68 
Zibia'',  Queen  of  Judah,  i.  257 
Ziklag,  village  of  Judah,  i.  121  ;  given  to  David, 
i.  121 ;  David  at,  i.  352 

Zikr,  Mabominedun  morning  service,  i.  177, 
179 

Zikrin,  excavations  at,  i.  305 
Zion  Gate,  i.  528 — 534 

Ziou,  Mount,  Christian  cemetery  on,  i.  540 
Ziph,  ruins  of,  i.  357 

Zoar,  hospital-orphanage,  at  Beirout,  ii.  465 
“  Zoheleth,”  i.  559 

Zorah,  see  Surah;  occupied  by  Hebrews  as  an 
outpost,  i.  98,  104  ;  birth-place  of  Samson, 
i.  98 ;  height  of,  tells  of  troublous  times,  i. 
100  ;  view  from,  i.  103  ;  fertility  at,  ii.  141 
Zukkum-tree,  the,  ii.  76 


150 

249 

315 

167 

217 

167 

84 

238 

171 

284, 

208, 

188 

496 

285 

188 

187 

285 

227 

187 

284, 

35- 

264 

86 

11G 

285 

38  8 

432 

187 

451 

46, 

128 

439 

177 

212, 

176 

121 

84 

290 

286. 

239 

256 

84 

284, 

451 

454 

86 

176, 

340 

250 

439 

493 

253 

88 

170 

443 

354 

439 

439 

496 

279 

351 


SCRIPTURE  REFERENCES 


O 


OLD  TESTAMENT. 


Vol. 

Page 

xxv.  16  I. 

285 

27  „ 

212, 441 

30  „ 

441 

xxvi.  1,  26  ,, 

84 

12  „ 

153 

11  „ 

230 

15, 18  „ 

236 

17  „ 

355 

19  „ 

236 

20  „ 

227 

33  „ 

256, 354 

xxvii.  4,  27  ,, 

442 

xxvni.  11  ,, 

276,442 

11,  16,1  TT 

17,19  I11* 

186 

17  „ 

458 

18,  22  I. 

438 

xxis.  ,, 

443 

1  11. 

413 

2,3  I. 

227 

3  II. 

179 

I. 

27 

9  „ 

229 

10  ,, 

496 

18  II. 

337 

xxx.  1,  22  ,, 

285 

14  I. 

146 

27  (Heb.)„ 

445 

32  „ 

229 

37  „ 

386 

xxxi.  7  II. 

337 

13,  45,  )  t 
51,52  f1- 

438 

19  II. 

411 

39-42  ,, 

337 

39  1. 

228 

40  „ 

72,221, 

227 

II. 

159 

xxxii.  16,24 

„  14 

xxxiii.  13  I. 

223,230 

19  „ 

339 

II. 

208 

20  „ 

208 

xxxv.  4  I. 

254 

7,14  II. 

186 

14  I. 

438 

18  „ 

449 

21  „ 

226 

27  „ 

449 

xxxvi.  20-3' •  ,,264 

xxxvii.  3  11. 

412 

7  I. 

145 

14  „ 

342 

17  II. 

245 

xxxviii.  6  I. 

207 

12  II. 

411 

14  I. 

496 

18  „ 

170, 490, 

494 

29  „ 

427 

xli.  6,23  II.  61 

42  I. 

491 

xlii.  22  „ 

167 

Vol. 

Page 

x’iii.  11  I. 

322 

xliv.  3  ,, 

451 

5  „ 

445 

xlv.  19,21,27  ,, 

369 

xlvi.  1  ,, 

369,449 

xlviii.  7  ,, 

420,438 

xlix.  11  ,, 

317,319 

12  „ 

212 

14  „ 

451 

17  „ 

247 

20  II. 

296 

25  „ 

192 

26  „ 

2^7 

1.  3  I. 

178 

Exodus. 

ii.  16  I. 

229 

iii.  1  „ 

229 

5  „ 

162, 289 

8,17  „ 

213 

iv.  20  „ 

451 

v.  6  ,, 

490 

7  ,, 

88,  171 

vn.  9  ,, 

244 

ix.  31  II. 

411 

33  I. 

2o5 

x.  5  ,, 

393 

6  „ 

393 

19  „ 

395 

xi.  5  ,, 

174 

7  „ 

12 

xii.  5  ,, 

233 

8  IT. 

217 

11  I. 

271 

39  II. 

128 

xiii.  2-10  ,, 

481 

5  I. 

213 

9  „ 

14 

11-17  II. 

481 

17  I. 

84 

xiv.  21  II. 

63 

XV.  27  I. 

203 

xvi.  29  ,, 

520 

xvii.  14  ,, 

490 

xx.  3,4  „ 

438 

xxi.  14  ,, 

167 

xxii.  5  ,, 

319 

6  „ 

114 

9-13  „ 

228,115 

26  „ 

116 

26,27  „ 

289 

27  „ 

276 

xxiii.  16  ,, 

146 

19  „ 

234 

28  „ 

303 

xxiv.  4  ,, 

490 

4-7  „ 

438 

xxv.  5,  lOf  ,, 

171 

11,13  „ 

170 

22  „ 

509 

xxvi.  1,  31,  36  ,,  172 

7  „ 

172 

14  „ 

171 

xxvii.  16  ,, 

172,289 

Vol.  Page 


xxvii.  20  I. 

141 

xxviii.  6,  39  ,, 

172 

lift'  „ 

171 

11,  17  „ 

170 

42  II. 

411 

42,43  I. 

288 

xxix.  40  ,, 

141 

xxx.  13  ,, 

78 

25,  35  „ 

173 

xxxii.  3,  4  ,, 

254 

4  „ 

170 

xxxiii.  3  ,, 

213 

xxxiv.  26  ,, 

234 

xxxv.  3  ,, 

520 

25,35  „ 

172 

36  „ 

171 

xxxvi.  8,  37  ,, 

172 

15  25  U  171 

xxxviii.  18  I. 

172 

xxxix.  8  ,, 

172 

Leviticus. 

i.  14  I. 

45 

iii.  9-11,, 

42 

v.  7  ,, 

45 

vi.  28  ,, 

170' 

vii.  3-6  ,, 

232 

xi.  18  ,, 

144 

20,22  „ 

391 

29  „ 

144 

30  „ 

144 

5  II. 

90 

9-12  „ 

343 

22  „ 

343 

xii.  2,  4,5  ,, 

343 

8  I. 

45 

xiii.  14  ,, 

533 

45  „ 

529 

xiv.  22  ,, 

45 

xv.  14,  29  ,, 

45 

xvi.  8-10  II. 

131 

xviii.  21  I. 

291 

xix.  10  ,, 

321 

14  „ 

269 

26  „ 

243 

28  „ 

14,176 

xxii.  27  ,, 

233 

xxiii.  6,40  ,, 

520 

10  „ 

146 

II.  72 

xxiv.  2  I. 

141 

17  „ 

167 

xxvi.  19  ,, 

272 

xxvii.  25  ,, 

78 

32  „ 

227,403 

Numbers. 

v.  2  I. 

532 

23  „ 

490 

vi.  6,9,18  11. 

56 

10  I. 

45 

15  f  „ 

171 

xi.  8  II. 

128 

.  J 

369 

213 

86 

213 

213 

317 

318 

170 

56, 

248 

246 

86 

14 

312 

91 

231 

253 

218 

222, 

348 

168 

167 

IMT, 

30 

86 

284 

83, 

14, 

404 

414 

86 

403 

213 

438 

481 

520 

366 

482 

490 

480 

27, 

31 

481 

86, 

139 

303 

317 

248 

349 

213 

9 

139 

490 

480 

96 

186, 

509 

139 

176 

90 

144 

234 

278 

146 

243, 

168 

421 

153 

21 

311 

159 

321 

490 

117 

161 

83 

116, 


OF  SCRIPTURE  REFERENCES 


Yol. 

Page 

Yol 

Page 

Jui 

GES 

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xxiv. 

II. 

412 

xi.  3 

I. 

86 

Yol. 

Pg 

ae 

16 

I. 

168 

5 

II. 

372 

i.  7 

I. 

303 

20 

)  ) 

140 

17 

403 

9 

y  9 

30 

21 

9  9 

321 

19 

9  9 

168 

11 

9  9 

360 

xxv.  3 

99 

520 

21 

I. 

350 

15 

9  9 

332 

4 

9  9 

88,  147, 

22 

9  9 

128 

16 

II. 

75 

365 

xii.  1 

II. 

14,  403 

17 

I. 

262 

II. 

81 

3 

99 

332 

18 

,,  84,94, 

196 

5-10 

9  9 

365 

5 

99 

404 

19 

9  9 

37 

7,  10 

I. 

426 

8 

I. 

30 

27,  28  „ 

69 

9 

9  9 

289 

12 

99 

98 

29 

9  9 

98 

xxvi.  2,  4  ,, 

171 

13 

99 

374 

31 

II. 

297, 

478 

6 

9  9 

161 

14 

99 

265, 352 

36 

y  y 

348 

15 

9  9 

2  i  3 

17 

9t 

200 

ii.  1 

yy 

95 

xxvii.  3 

9  9 

213 

18 

9  9 

76 

9 

9  9 

205 

2-8 

II. 

218 

23 

II. 

97 

iii.  3 

I. 

84 

12ff  „ 

219 

xiii.  2 

I. 

52,  84 

12,13 

II 

78 

17 

I. 

421 

3 

99 

93 

13 

I. 

207 

II. 

153 

11 

II. 

404 

19 

II. 

95 

18 

I 

269, 490 

27 

9  9 

332 

20,  23,  25 

yy 

253 

xxviii.  38,39,42 

„  393 

30 

99 

414 

27 

9  9 

96 

40 

9  9 

136, 139 

58 

I. 

373 

31 

I. 

85 

II. 

213 

xiv.  6 

II. 

96 

iv.  2 

II. 

373 

49 

9  9 

242 

XV. 

I. 

60 

3 

I. 

36 

xxix.  5 

I. 

289 

3 

II. 

348 

5 

9  9 

207 

10,  11 

9  9 

495 

6 

99 

66,  84 

6 

11. 

261, 

373 

11 

II. 

138 

7 

I. 

555 

v.  10 

I. 

451 

xxxi.  20 

I. 

213 

10 

9  9 

100 

20 

II. 

263 

t 

xxxii.  11 

II. 

391 

11 

9  9 

90 

25 

I. 

170 

11,12 

9  9 

242 

11,46 

93 

28 

9  9 

11 

13 

I. 

50,  138 

45 

99 

84 

30 

y  > 

172 

14 

99 

212 

15 

99 

360, 489 

11. 

411 

33 

9  9 

242 

18 

9  9 

451 

vi.  3-5 

y  y 

257 

35 

99 

293 

19 

9  9 

332 

4 

9  9 

258 

xxxiii.  13-15  11 

.  227 

26 

9  » 

265 

11 

I. 

147, 

362 

19,  24 

9  9 

296 

28 

9  9 

103,  256 

19 

9  9 

171, 

233 

xxxiv.  3 

I. 

207 

31 

9  9 

152 

25 

II. 

206 

II. 

75 

32 

99 

101 

vii.  3 

9  9 

257 

33 

9  9 

30,  99 

viii.  7,  16 

y  9 

74 

Joshua 

34,53  „ 

200 

25 

I. 

254 

ii.  5 

II. 

30,  78 

41 

9  9 

28,  96 

ix.  7 

II. 

216 

6 

9  9 

76 

46 

99 

129 

14 

y  i 

73 

10 

I. 

86 

55 

9  9 

349 

27 

I. 

318 

15 

II. 

78,  423 

xvi.  3 

9  9 

98 

37 

II. 

209 

22 

99 

78 

8 

99 

200 

37  (Heb. 

)I. 

447 

iii  15,17 

9  9 

88 

10 

99 

98 

x.  3,5 

II. 

414 

16 

99 

89 

svii.  7 

9  9 

200 

11,  13 

yy 

184 

iv.  19 

99 

88 

11 

99 

70 

xii.  5 

y  y 

99 

19,  2C 

„ 

94 

16 

9  9 

37 

8-10 

I. 

428 

v.  2 

99 

94 

II. 

263 

xiii.  15, 19 ,, 

233 

6 

I. 

213 

xviii.  1 

9  9 

96,  205 

xiv.  It 

,, 

100 

10 

II. 

88 

19,  21 

9  9 

84 

5fl 

II. 

141 

15 

I. 

162, 289 

21 

9  9 

78 

11 

I. 

101 

vi.  4,  21,  24 

II. 

78 

24 

9  9 

171 

15 

9  9 

102 

vii.  2 

9  9 

179 

25 

9  9 

190 

19 

II. 

141 

6 

I. 

205 

xix.  2 

I. 

256, 265 

XV.  1 

I. 

146 

26 

II 

4,  422 

3 

9  9 

103 

8 

II. 

142 

viii.  29 

)* 

4,  422 

6 

9  9 

101 

13 

I. 

172 

34 

9  9 

205, 219 

11 

9  9 

103 

xv>.  14 

9  9 

172 

ix. 

9  9 

168 

18 

II. 

263 

23 

9  y 

85 

1 

I. 

30 

28 

9  9 

478 

27-30 

y  9 

164 

4,5 

„ 

287 

35 

9  1 

322 

xvii.  4,  5 

9  9 

170 

6 

II. 

96 

42 

L. 

103 

5 

y  y 

445 

7 

9  9 

168 

43 

9  9 

90,  94 

xviii.  4,  5 

9  y 

446 

17 

9  9 

190 

45 

99 

28,  29 

14,  29 

„ 

101 

21,27 

„ 

138 

46 

99 

23 

18-20 

9  9 

445 

23, 27  I. 

495 

xxi.  14 

9  9 

351 

27-29 

II. 

388 

X. 

II. 

169, 183 

17 

II. 

171 

30 

I. 

430 

5 

1. 

86 

40  (Sept.' 

1. 

43 

xix.  16,21 

II. 

163 

6, 15,  43 

II. 

96 

xxii.  10,  11  ,, 

52 

19 

I. 

88 

10 

I. 

96 

xxiv.  2 

9  9 

446 

XX.  1 

9  y 

2  6 

33 

9  9 

98 

12 

99 

86,  303 

16 

9  9 

103 

38 

9  9 

360 

13 

9  9 

317 

18 

II. 

188 

40 

99 

30 

25 

II. 

205 

35 

y  y 

163 

xi.  1 

II 

371 

27 

9  9 

208 

47 

9  9 

191 

1-12  „ 

261 

30 

I. 

48 

xxi.  1,3,  5,  8  ,, 

167 

2 

99 

332 

32 

99 

339 

19 

y  9 

200, 

203 

2,16  I. 

30 

11. 

212 

20 

I. 

318 

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539 


Ruth 

Vol 

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Vol 

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Vol 

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428 

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I. 

321 

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301 

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I 

146 

35 

9  9 

220 

viii.  5,  6 

II. 

432 

15-17  I. 

98 

ii.  8 

99 

421 

40 

II. 

159 

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9  9 

457 

17 

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424 

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x.  22 

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99 

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xviii.  19 

II. 

164 

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r. 

524 

27 

9  9 

30,  134, 

429,  425 

xix.  13, 14  I. 

447 

x.  5 

IT. 

78 

135 

17 

9  9 

141?,  423 

13-16 

,, 

233 

17 

9  9 

99 

28 

9  9 

155 

22,  23 

„ 

423 

xx.  5-25 

11. 

164 

xii.  2, 

3„ 

10 

xi.  7 

558 

23 

99 

146 

6 

I. 

428 

20 

I. 

543 

23,  25 

II. 

432 

iii.  2 

99 

149 

30 

>  9 

333 

31 

9  9 

149, 171 

36 

I. 

117 

2-14 

99 

365 

xxi.  1 

II. 

158 

xiii.  1 

9  9 

207 

xii.  11, 14 

II. 

349 

7 

99 

147, 152, 

6 

9  9 

162 

xiv.  2 

9  9 

399 

16,25 

9  9 

229 

424 

10 

1. 

239 

11 

9  9 

167 

28 

9  9 

188 

10,  11  „ 

426 

xxii.  1-5 

„ 

343 

xv.  18 

9  9 

524 

xiv.  13 

I. 

176 

15 

99 

408 

2 

9  9 

108, 343 

32 

II. 

15 

17 

II. 

221 

iv.  1 

99 

432 

6 

II. 

163 

xvi.  1 

I. 

321 

25 

I. 

115 

7,8 

„ 

289 

19 

9  9 

158 

3,7 

II. 

67 

xv.  4 

9  9 

117 

8, 12 

9  9 

427 

xxiii.  1 

I. 

109 

22 

I. 

433 

20 

II. 

3S0 

7 

9  9 

110 

xvii.  1 2 

” 

74 

17-22 

)  9 

171 

1  SAMUEL. 

15 

9  9 

313 

17-22 

557 

19,  2C 

„ 

432 

i.  1 

I. 

30 

16 

9  9 

357 

18 

9  9 

26 

21,  33 

9  9 

221 

6 

II. 

285 

16, 18, 19 

9  9 

358 

19 

II. 

67 

xvi .  8 

9  9 

221 

12 

I. 

496 

26  (R.V., 

„ 

360 

28 

I. 

159 

24,  28 

9  9 

236 

17,  19 

„ 

30 

28 

9  9 

359 

xviii.  8 

9  9 

50 

32 

9  9 

234 

21 

9  9 

74 

xxiv.  3 

9  9 

222 

17 

II. 

4,  190, 

33 

9  9 

263 

21, 23 

II. 

275 

14 

II. 

350 

422 

31 

9  9 

79 

ii.  19 

I. 

171, 172 

XXV.  1 

I. 

30 

18 

9  9 

3 

xvii.  1 

9  9 

57 

iv.  10 

II. 

190 

2 

9  9 

230 

33 

99 

253 

3,  5 

9  9 

63 

v.  1 

I. 

85 

2-38 

„ 

350 

xix.  15 

9  9 

95  ' 

9 

9  9 

492 

4 

99 

129 

5 

9  9 

313 

37,  38 

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428 

13 

9  9 

128 

4  (margin) 

„ 

131 

7 

9  9 

220 

xx.  7,  23 

99 

514 

17,  19 

9  9 

253 

10 

9  9 

94 

15,  16 

9  9 

221 

9 

9  9 

327 

xviii.  19,  22 

„ 

234 

vi.  7 

99 

153 

18 

9  9 

321 

10 

II. 

169, 389 

30 

*  9 

287 

12 

9  9 

104 

18,  36 

9  9 

424 

xxi. 

99 

168 

42 

I. 

205 

13 

99 

146 

29 

9  9 

106 

2 

9  9 

168 

44 

9  9 

36 

19 

II. 

145 

36 

5) 

350 

9 

I. 

146 

45 

II. 

263 

vii .  1 

9  9 

145 

xxvi.  7 

9  9 

250 

9,  10 

II. 

164 

xix.  2 

9  9 

308 

5-13 

9  9 

167 

11 

9  9 

370 

19 

I. 

172 

3 

I. 

453 

12 

9  9 

142 

12 

9  9 

359 

22 

9  9 

119 

4,  5 

9  y 

257 

16 

99 

96 

13  (R.V.) 

9  y 

360 

xxiii.  8 

99 

427 

6 

11. 

128 

viii.  2 

I. 

256 

20 

II. 

350 

13-16 

9  9 

455 

11 

9  * 

318 

13 

9  9 

173 

xxvii.  8 

I. 

121 

14 

9  9 

429 

19 

r. 

136 

14 

9  9 

317 

xxviii.  3,  4 

II. 

251 

20 

II. 

58 

ii. 

3-2 

ix.  25 

9  9 

433 

6 

9  9 

252 

xxiv.  18 

I. 

146 

xx. 13-34 

9  9 

432 

x.  3 

II. 

188 

xxix.  1 

9  y 

250,251 

18,  22 

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505 

16 

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237 

5, 13 

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159 

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25 

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8 

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96 

12 

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148 

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14 

9  9 

85 

34 

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237,432 

xi.  4 

9  9 

162 

26,31 

9  9 

343 

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318 

4-11 

9  9 

256 

28 

9  9 

265. 351 

i.  3 

II. 

253 

II. 

263 

15 

9  9 

96 

xxxi.  10 

9  9 

129 

9 

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555, 559 

19 

I. 

561 

xii.  17 

I. 

116 

12 

II. 

256 

38,  44 

99 

524 

xxii.  1-4,  15 

-37 

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422 

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I. 

289 

37,  39 

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233 

18 

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57 

2  Samuel. 

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9  9 

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253 

13ff 

1 

556 

49 

I. 

372 

4 

y  9 

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20 

197 

28 

9  y 

167 

6 

9  9 

73 

21 

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249 

II. 

169  . 

2  Kings 

. 

19 

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170 

23 

9  9 

242 

iii.  4,  5ff 

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169 

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I. 

85 

19-21 

9  t 

160 

24 

9  y 

411 

iv.  21-24 

9  9 

448 

8 

9  9 

493 

xiv. 

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173 

ii.  1-4 

I. 

343 

22,  23 

I. 

230 

11. 

412 

4. 11,12 

9  9 

174 

16 

II. 

169 

23 

9  9 

160,  277 

ii.  1 

99 

196 

16 

9  9 

162 

18 

I. 

277 

25 

9  9 

320 

1,2 

99 

96 

16  (R.V.) 

99 

175 

32 

9  9 

429 

28 

9  9 

88 

3 

9* 

188 

25,  26 

9  9 

180 

iii.  27 

9  9 

167,343 

v.  6 

II. 

478 

•  18 

I. 

66 

25,27 

I. 

50 

29 

99 

333 

12 

I. 

139 

19-22 

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75 

xv.  12 

9  9 

350 

31 

9  9 

172,176 

9-11 

99 

153 

23, 24 

9  9 

187 

12,  21,33,34 

II. 

96 

35 

9  9 

543 

15 

9  ♦ 

51 

iii.  4 

I. 

224,231 

34 

J  9 

162 

iv.  2 

II. 

190 

vi.  7 

II. 

18 

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II. 

14,  167 

xvi.  3-5, 11 

I. 

428 

5,  6 

I. 

271 

2oft 

I. 

170 

iv.  10 

99 

253 

12 

9  9 

233 

12 

99 

326 

29 

9  9 

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9  9 

287 

16 

9  9 

217 

v.  5 

99 

343 

vii.  9 

99 

171 

24 

9  9 

254 

18 

9  9 

226, 403 

6 

9  9 

524 

14 

9  9 

170 

38 

99 

96 

xvii.  2,  4 

9  9 

105 

8 

9  9 

126, 524 

36 

9  9 

2<7 

v.  6ft 

99 

91 

7 

9  9 

170, 172 

11 

9  9 

171,524 

45 

9  9 

170 

9 

99 

23  3 

12ff 

9  9 

428 

22-25 

9  9 

455 

viii.  44 

II. 

226 

12 

99 

426, 427 

17 

9  9 

145 

25 

9  9 

98 

44,48 

I. 

204 

14 

9  9 

99 

18 

9  9 

215 

vi.  14 

9  9 

521 

54 

99 

205 

vi.  20.  21 

9  9 

448 

34  (R.V.) 

99 

4-03 

14-20  II. 

412  | 

63 

a 

230 

25 

I. 

161 

237 

236 

99 

1>7 

432 

561 

36 

264 

245,  S 

235 

263 

234 

188 

432 

236 

257 

171 

121 

432 

149 

236 

168 

141 

73 

236 

448 

101 

236 

237 

226 

390 

225 

226 

173 

42 

470 

243 

171 

172, 

291 

434 

253 

560 

189 

447 

260 

448 

170 

423 

79 

317 

170 

3LES. 

264 

152 

29 

171 

103. 

76 

231 

403 

351 

98 

281 

98 

29 

•427 

349 

.  427 

429 

103 

277 

.  88 

.  321 


OF  SCRIPTURE  REFERENCES 


Vol. 

Page 

x?i. 

3 

I. 

321 

xviii. 

1 

9  9 

120 

i 

5,  6 

II. 

432 

17 

I 

524 

XX. 

4 

9  9 

98 

xxi. 

18 

9  * 

505 

xxii. 

4 

II. 

478 

xxvii. 

2,3 

I. 

h27 

28 

99 

3  ),  135. 

139 

29 

9  9 

76 

31 

9  9 

230 

xxviii. 

11 

II. 

253 

2  Chronicles. 


i.  15  I.  30  135 


16 

99 

155 

ii.  8-18 

*  9 

5L 

14 

9  9 

172 

16 

99 

21 

iii.  1 

99 

505 

5 

9  9 

170 

9 

11. 

253 

14 

1. 

172 

v.  13, 14 

9  9 

510 

vi.  13 

99 

205 

34 

11. 

226 

vii.  5 

I. 

230 

viii.  2 

II. 

301 

4 

9  9 

448 

ix.  27 

I. 

30, 

135 

28 

*  ) 

155 

x.  4 

99 

22 

xi.  5,  6 

„ 

432 

6 

9  9 

382, 

399 

7 

99 

373 

8 

99 

120 

xiv.  9 

9  9 

507 

XV.  11 

9  9 

‘.31 

xvi.  Ilf 

11. 

171 

4 

9  9 

390 

xix.  4 

I. 

256 

xx.  2 

II. 

115, 

116 

2i 

I. 

399 

26 

9  9 

374 

xxiv.  12 

9  9 

170 

16 

9  9 

525 

20-22 

II. 

2 

xxv.  22 

9  9 

190 

xxvi.  6 

I. 

90,  129 

10 

99 

27, 

30, 

224,  226, 

272, 

318, 

354 

14 

I. 

106 

23 

99 

525 

xxvii.  3 

99 

549 

xxviii.  3 

9  9 

290 

15 

9  9 

207 

18 

99 

30 

xxx.  5 

9  9 

25 1 

5,  24 

9  9 

509 

24 

99 

231 

xxxii.  3 

99 

516 

28 

9  9 

139, 

230 

30 

II. 

32 

I 

470 

xxxiii.  6 

9  9 

243, 

290 

14 

99 

549 

xxxv.  7 

•  9 

509 

20,  22 

II 

260 

25 

99 

261 

Ezra 

ii.  34 

II 

79 

iii.  7 

I 

22. 

139, 

153 

II.  478 


Vol.  Page 


ix. 

1 

I. 

86 

5 

9  > 

205 

9 

9  9 

3  2 

X. 

9 

II. 

57,  60 

9,  13  I. 

274 

Nehe 

iMIAH. 

ii. 

13 

I. 

553 

iii. 

2 

II. 

79 

8 

I. 

173 

15 

9  9 

554 

16 

9  9  ' 

373,  524. 

525 

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’,  26 

1.549 

31 

II. 

253 

32 

I. 

160 

iv. 

7 

9  9 

129 

V. 

3 

99 

317 

18 

99 

160 

vi. 

5 

9  9 

491 

vii. 

36 

II. 

79 

viii. 

6 

1. 

205 

15, 

16 

99 

520 

ix. 

25 

9  9 

27 

xi. 

4-5 

>  „ 

427 

21 

9  9 

5^9 

26 

9  9 

2ri5 

27 

)> 

103 

30 

99 

257 

35 

99 

29 

Esther. 
ii.  16  II.  60 


Job. 


i.  3 

I. 

230 

19 

II. 

64 

ii.  7 

I. 

528 

8 

„ 

156, 189, 

528 

iii.  21 

II. 

485 

vi.  15 

I. 

215 

15-17,, 

124 

11. 

117 

vii.  5 

I. 

526 

6 

9  9 

172 

II. 

231 

ix.  26 

9  • 

242 

30 

I. 

173 

x.  9 

9  9 

171 

xv.  2 

11. 

63 

xvi.  18 

I. 

167 

xviii.  5,6(R  V  )  I.  117 

xix.  17 

I. 

528 

24 

99 

489 

xx.  14-16 

99 

242 

16 

9  9 

246, 247 

xxi.  12 

9  9 

217 

17 

9  9 

117 

18 

99 

88.  151, 

505 

II. 

63 

xxii.  6 

I. 

116 

xxiv.  2 

99 

421 

II. 

153 

10 

I. 

116, 316 

16 

9  9 

54 

xxvii.  18 

99 

315 

21 

Ii. 

63 

xxviii.  16, 

9  I. 

170 

xxix.  6 

9  9 

136 

7 

9  9 

294 

19 

9  9 

74 

23 

99 

272 

xxx.  2-6  ,,  264 
4,  6  „  258 

xxxi.  21  „  21 


Vol. 

Page 

xxx'  ii.  9,  22  II. 

60 

xxxviii.  9  I. 

154 

11  „ 

491 

28  „ 

73 

37  „ 

287 

xli.  5  ,, 

13 

6  „ 

86 

27  „ 

89 

28  „ 

106 

3MR.V.),, 

148 

xli  .  12  ,, 

230, 231 

15  II. 

284 

Psalms. 

i.  3  I. 

8 

II 

475 

4  I. 

151,  505 

ii.  9  II. 

50 

iii.  2  I. 

271 

v.  7  ,, 

204 

II. 

226 

viii.  1-4  I. 

453 

ix.  12  „ 

167 

x.  14  ,, 

16 

xvi.  6  II. 

153 

xviii.  5  ,, 

148 

29,  33,  34  I. 

111 

xix.  1  ,, 

226 

xxii.  16  ,, 

294 

16-20  ,, 

12,  294 

xxiii.  1,  2  II. 

228 

2  I. 

226 

4  „ 

223, 357 

6  „ 

509 

xxiv.  7  II. 

40 

9  I. 

66 

xxviii.  2  ,, 

204, 205 

xxix.  6  II. 

404 

xxxiv.  \  j 
(margin)  ) 

239 

20  „ 

315 

xxxv.  5  ,, 

151,505 

6  „ 

293 

xlii.  1  ,, 

125 

1,4  „ 

511 

7  „ 

125 

xliii.  3  II. 

39 

xlv.  8  ,, 

236 

14  I. 

172 

10-14  II. 

411 

xlvi.  4  ,, 

31 

xlv  iii.  1,  2  ,, 

38 

2  I. 

522 

7  II. 

63 

12,13  „ 

39 

1.  10  I. 

66 

Jii.  8  ,, 

138,  509 

lv.  17  „ 

203 

lvi.  2,  5,  6  „ 

120 

8  „ 

495 

lviii.  4  ,, 

244 

4,5  „ 

242 

5  ,, 

243 

5,6  „ 

245 

9  „ 

114 

lix.  6  ,, 

294 

14,  15  „ 

12 

lxii.  3  ,, 

312 

lxiii.  1  ,, 

273 

lxv.  9  ,, 

272 

12  „ 

216 

13  „ 

436 

Ixxii:  9  ,, 

249,  306 

Ixxiii.  18  ,, 

293 

lxxiv.  19  ,, 

46 

lxxv.  8  ,, 

322 

10  II.  474 


lxxvi.  1,  2  ,,  39 


1 


LIST  OF  SCRIPTURE  REFERENCES 


541 


Vol. 

Page  1 

Vol. 

Page 

Vol.  Page 

Vol. 

Page 

lxxvii.  20 

I. 

222 

x'x.  12  I. 

74 

iv.  13 

II. 

116 

xx.  5  (R.V.)  I. 

130 

Ixxviii.  46 

9  9 

393, 39 1 

xx.  4  II. 

492 

16 

I 

378 

xxii.  1  ,, 

434 

55 

II 

152 

xxi.  1,  2  1. 

a 

II. 

61 

9  „ 

545 

lxxix.  1-6 

I. 

518 

9  „ 

433 

v.  1 

I. 

213 

xxiii.  1  ,, 

372 

12 

II. 

201 

14  II. 

2  1 

2 

9  9 

74 

2  11. 

478 

lxxx.  1 

I. 

222 

xxii.  22  I. 

21 

II. 

84 

xxiv  13  I. 

140 

12 

99 

312,  319 

28  ,, 

421 

7 

I. 

13 

xxv.  4  ,, 

227 

13 

II. 

148 

II. 

153 

13 

9  9 

40 

0  „ 

323 

lxxxi.  16 

I. 

50 

32  I. 

241 

vi.  4 

II. 

221 

10  „ 

151 , 152 

lxxxiii.  10 

159 

xxiii.  10  ,, 

421 

5 

I. 

232 

xxvi.  19  ,, 

76 

14 

99 

66 

II. 

153 

7  (Heb.) ,, 

496 

21  „ 

167 

lxxxi  v.  6 

II. 

195 

30  I. 

322 

vii.  5 

11. 

291 

xxvii.  1  ,, 

67 

lxxxvii.  1 

9  9 

38 

32  „ 

246 

8 

I. 

200, 208 

8  II. 

63 

7 

99 

32 

xxiv.  30,  31  ,, 

325 

13 

9  9 

444 

11  „ 

148 

lxxxix.  12 

99 

281 

XXV.  11  ,, 

2(0 

viii.  2 

9  9 

322 

xxviii  1  ,, 

236 

xci.  1 

I. 

227 

13  II. 

404 

5 

9  9 

200 

9  „ 

275 

13 

99 

242 

23  „ 

00 

6 

9  9 

490 

17  I. 

171 

xcii  10 

9  9 

141 

xxvi.  9  ,, 

73 

11 

99 

318 

27  „ 

147, 149 

12 

Ii. 

286 

xxvii.  15  I. 

53 

14 

9  9 

277 

xxix.  1,  2  II. 

39 

12, 13 

I. 

207 

22  „ 

279 

16  I. 

171 

13 

9  9 

203 

27  ,, 

311 

Isaiah 

II. 

50 

13, 14  „ 

509 

xxx.  19  ,, 

246 

i.  3 

I. 

157 

xxx.  6  I. 

88,  247 

xciv.  9 

9  9 

171 

24,  25  ,, 

383 

8 

9  9 

226, 315 

14  II. 

50 

xcv.  6 

9  9 

2"5 

24, 26  II. 

90 

29 

II. 

382 

33  I. 

547 

xcvii.  10 

9  9 

315 

27  I. 

393 

ii.  16 

I. 

372 

xxxii.  2  ,, 

193,  227, 

12 

9  9 

178 

31  „ 

232 

20 

99 

144 

310, 403 

xcix.  1 

9  9 

509 

33  „ 

214, 286 

iii.  3 

99 

213 

xxxiii.  9  ,, 

76 

cii.  9 

9  9 

249 

xxxi.  13  ,, 

331 

16 

9  9 

253 

II. 

291 

ciii.  5 

II. 

242 

13,  19;  24  ,, 

172 

18,  24 

II. 

412 

xxxiv.  13  ,, 

73 

16 

9  9 

63 

15,18  II. 

193 

20 

I. 

253, 255 

xxxv.  2  I. 

76 

civ.  10 

99 

139 

19f  I. 

171, 172 

21 

99 

254 

II. 

291 

12 

99 

86 

21  II. 

58 

24 

99 

172 

7  I. 

356 

18 

99 

90 

24  I. 

87 

v.  2 

99 

319,406 

xxxvi.  2  ,, 

172, 173 

32 

318 

II. 

306 

16  „ 

26 

cxviii.  12 

I. 

114 

Ecclesiastes. 

5 

I. 

312 

xxxvii.  27  ,, 

42 

27 

II. 

474 

ii.  4ff  I. 

379 

6 

99 

320 

xxxviii.  12  II. 

189 

cix.  23 

I. 

395 

iv.  12  ,, 

172 

22 

99 

322 

xl.  3,  4  I. 

56 

cx.  3 

9  9 

74 

vii.  6  , , 

114 

24  (R.V.)  „ 

15L 

7  II. 

63 

cxi.  4 

9  9 

178 

II. 

192 

vii.  2 

99 

66 

11  I. 

223 

cxii.  6 

9  9 

178 

x.  1  I. 

95, 173 

II 

294 

19  „ 

170 

cxvi.  6 

9  9 

315 

8  „ 

243, 246, 

3 

I. 

172, 173 

22  II. 

190 

cxix.  83 

9  9 

2'6 

313 

18 

99 

95 

31  „ 

242,391 

cxx.  4 

9  9 

258 

8-11  „ 

246 

24,  25  II. 

238 

xii.  7  I. 

170 

cxxi.  1-4 

9  9 

315 

11  „ 

243 

viii.  1 

I. 

489 

15  „ 

88 

cxxii.  3 

II. 

39 

18(K.V.)„ 

53 

4 

II. 

238 

15,  16  „ 

151 

cxxv.  2 

I. 

468 

xii.  3,  4  ,, 

174 

6 

I. 

552 

•25  „ 

171 

II. 

38,  39 

4  II. 

161 

ix.  10 

9  9 

135 

xiii.  11  ,, 

285 

cxxvi.  4 

I. 

215 

4,5  I. 

13 

It. 

236 

xliv.  6.  12  ,, 

170 

cxxvii.  5 

11. 

458 

5  „ 

176 

18 

I. 

66 

13  „ 

171 

cxxviii.  3 

I. 

141, 199, 

6  „ 

189, 237 

x.  14 

99 

161 

xlv.  9  ,, 

171 

320 

15 

99 

171 

II. 

50 

cxxix.  6 

y  9 

42,  155 

Canticles. 

28,  29 

II. 

175 

xlvi.  11  ,, 

242 

7 

9  9 

145 

i.  5  I. 

172,233 

31 

I. 

152 

xlix.  11  I. 

56 

cxxx.  6 

9  9 

315 

0  „ 

314 

31,32  (E.V.)  II.  161 

15,16  „ 

15 

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7  „ 

225 

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39 

7 

99 

89 

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468 

2  „ 

40 

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455 

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318 

Proverbs. 

II. 

73 

8 

I. 

241, 242 

lvi.  9  I. 

66 

i.  9 

I. 

253 

3,5  I. 

200 

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32 

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12 

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11. 

485 

5  „ 

321 

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277 

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11 

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218 

6 

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140 

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89,  249 

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74 

9  „ 

253 

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272 

11  „ 

213 

4 

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75 

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9  9 

170 

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275,490 

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99 

172 

i.  1  II. 

160 

23 

II. 

201 

12-14  „ 

379 

xx.  2 

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162 

ii.  20  „ 

206 

542 


LIST  OF  SCRIPTURE  REFERENCES 


Vol.  Page 


ii.  13 

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275 

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9  9 

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II. 

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ii.  5,  9 

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527 

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422 

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ii.  6 

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349 

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12 

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128 

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122 

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313 

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63 

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318 

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394 

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200 

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216 

23  „ 

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24  „ 

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399 

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316 

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149 

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186 

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129 

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146, 153 

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66 

12  „ 

172 

II. 

238 

14  „ 

189 

Vol. 

Page 

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236 

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9  9 

98, 189 

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257 

5 

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96,  189 

19 

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246 

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226, 403 

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257 

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n. 

293 

7 

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83,  525 

9 

9  9 

150 

13 

9  9 

320 

Obadiah. 


19  I.  30 


Jonah. 


ii.  4 

II. 

226 

iv.  5-8 

I. 

371 

8 

II. 

62 

Micah. 

i.  6,7 

II. 

238 

8 

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176 

10 

99 

121 

16 

9  9 

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242 

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152 

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10 

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115 

ii.  3 

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411 

7 

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177 

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171 

17 

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iii.  4 

II.  474 

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i.  5 

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434 

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99 

186 

5 

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• 

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74 

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92 

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iii.  10 

I. 

320 

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99 

30 

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278 

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186 

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368 

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3 

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190, 

10,  11 

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176 

11 

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260 

xiv.  4 

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519 

4ff 

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15 

4,5 

99 

316 

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iii.  1 

I. 

56 

2 

99 

170, 

LIST  OF  SCRIPTURE  REFERENCES 


543 


APOCRYPHA. 


1  Esdras. 

Vol.  Page 

v.  5  I.  427 

2  Esdras. 

i.  30  I.  160 

Judith. 

x.  4  I.  253 

xi.  19  „  12 

xiii.  9  ,,  95 

Ecclesiasticus. 

v.  9  E  150 


Vol. 

Page 

xxiv.  6 

II. 

88 

14 

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40 

II. 

76 

xxviii.  24 

I. 

115 

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9  9 

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470 

1.  1-10  11. 

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8 

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40 

16, 17,  20  „ 

510 

26 

II. 

226 

1  Maccabees. 

Vol.  Page 
ii.  1  I.  43 

iv.  29,  61  „  373 

v.  2  II.  411 
15  „  297 
52  ,,  99 

vi.  31,  50  I.  374 

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52  I.  374 
73  II.  178 

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14  T.  374 
76  „  23 

86  „  197 


Vol.  Page 


xi.  60 

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374 

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297 

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45 

29 

9  9 

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51 

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211 

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xi.  5 

9  9 

373 

xii.  3,  4 

9  9 

23 

6 

99 

23 

26 

»» 

85 

NEW  TESTAMENT. 


Matthew. 

xiii.  25-30 

II. 

387 

Mark. 

ii.  8-12 

I. 

225 

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427 

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244 

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218 

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27 

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34 

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346 

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29 

9  9 

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9  9 

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4 

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317,318 

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7,12 

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154 

11. 

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66 

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544 


LIST  OF  SCRIPTURE  REFERENCES 


Vol 

Pago 

Vol 

Page 

xix.  41ft 

II 

.  15 

xi.  31 

I. 

175, 542 

46 

I. 

515 

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299 

xxii.  35 

9  9 

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45 

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9  9 

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46 

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5  9 

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31 

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xix.  2 

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5 

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9  9 

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15 

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9  9 

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9  9 

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9  9 

219 

6-8, 11 

9  9 

312 

11 

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558 

7 

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494 

21-23 

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211 

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342 

24 

9  9 

409 

47 

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v.  2 

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i.  9, 12 

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3 

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18 

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19 

9  9 

549 

vi.  1,  23 

9  9 

319 

ii.  5 

9) 

376 

15 

I. 

92 

8-11 

9  9 

473 

II. 

340 

19 

II. 

62 

21,  22,  59 

9  9 

346 

29 

I. 

525 

48,  49 

99 

353 

iii.  2 

9  y 

513 

ix.  7 

1. 

550, 554 

10 

9  9 

203 

x.  3 

9  9 

217 

vii.  15,^  6  > 

339 

4 

99 

222 

(R.V.if 

99 

5 

99 

224 

vii.  2 

9  9 

541 

11 

99 

221 

4 

11. 

433 

12,  14, 15 

99 

219 

26 

I. 

310 

23 

9  9 

513 

36-39 

II. 

135 

18-20, ) 

II. 

42 

38 

I 

374 

30,  31 j 

ix.  4,  5 

II. 

416 

Vol.  Page 

ix.  5  I.  333 
11  „  428 
25  „  423 

32,  38  I.  32 
39,  43  „  171 

x.  6,  32  „  171 

13  ,,  284,367 
28  „  60 
IT.  369 
31,35  I.  59 

xi.  18  ,,  60 

xii.  20  ,,  153 

21  „  60 
xviii.  3  „  172 
18  II.  56 
22  I.  60 
xxi.  7  II.  297 
8  I.  60 
23,  24  II.  56 
29  I.  526 
xxii.  30  „  526 
xxiii.  10  ,,  526 
31  II.  26 
xxvi.  14  I.  41 
xxvii.  3  II.  478 


Romans. 
ix.  20  II.  50 
xi.  17  (R.Y.)  1. 139 


1  Corinthians. 
ix.  9  I.  365 
xi.  5  „  496 


2  CORIKTHIANS. 
xi.  24  I.  520 


Galatians. 

Vol.  Page 
ii.  12,  13  II.  369 


Philippians. 
iii.  5  II.  225 
6  I.  520 


1  Timothy. 

v.  18  I.  365 
22  II.  464 


2  Timothy. 
iv.  14  I.  170 

Hebrews. 
ix.  28  I.  510 
xii.  5,  6  ,,  521 
xi  ii.  12  II.  20,  26 
12,  13  I.  484 


Jame=:. 


ii.  23 

I. 

326 

iii.  7 

99 

243 

v.  17 

II. 

57 

Revelation. 

vii.  3 

I. 

15 

9 

99 

208 

ix.  9 

9  9 

394 

xvi.  16 

II. 

260 

xviii.  21 

I. 

175 

22 

9  9 

117 

II. 

161 

xxi.  12,  25 

9  9 

458 

xxii.  15 

99 

214 

